Elsevier Announces the Winner of the Ahmed Zewail Prize in Molecular Sciences

AMSTERDAM, June 21, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

- Professor William H. Miller of University of California, Berkeley, Rewarded for his Outstanding Contributions to the Theory of Chemical Reactions

The Editors of the leading international journal Chemical Physics Letters are pleased to announce that the third Ahmed Zewail Prize in Molecular Sciences has been awarded to Professor William H. Miller from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, for his outstanding contributions to the theory of chemical reactions. The prize consists of a monetary award of $20,000 and will be presented during the 2011 Spring meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Anaheim, CA, USA.

Professor Miller's research has dealt with essentially all aspects of molecular collision theory and chemical reaction dynamics. Most recently his efforts have focused on developing a practical way of adding quantum effects to classical molecular dynamics simulations of chemical processes. Everyone involved in the detailed interpretation of experiments on chemical reaction dynamics have been influenced by his innovative theories.

William H. Miller received a B.S. in Chemistry from Georgia Tech (1963) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Harvard (1967). He joined the chemistry department of the University of California, Berkeley, in 1969 and has been Professor since 1974, serving as Department Chairman from 1989 to 1993 and becoming the Kenneth S. Pitzer Distinguished Professor in 1999. Professor Miller is a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (1985), the National Academy of Sciences (1987), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1993). His awards include the Annual Prize of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (1974), the E. O. Lawrence Memorial Award (1985), the Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics (1990), the American Chemical Society Award in Theoretical Chemistry (1994), the Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry (1996), the Ira Remsen Award (1997), the Spiers Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1998), the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry (2003), the Welch Award in Chemistry (2007), and the Hershbach Award in Molecular Dynamics (2007).

Nobel Laureate Professor Ahmed Zewail, in whose name the prize is honoured, remarked, "Bill has made fundamental contributions to the field of chemical dynamics. In his work, one can see the elegance of approach and the creative sparks, which were certainly evident in his seminal semiclassical description of reactivity."

Dr. Karel Nederveen, Publishing Director Chemistry at Elsevier, commented, "I am delighted with the choice of Professor Miller as the third Ahmed Zewail Prize winner. I thank both the nominators and the 11 leading scientists in the Voting Committee, who helped the Editors in making such an exceptional choice from a field of close to 40, very strong nominations."

About the Ahmed Zewail Prize in Molecular Sciences

The Ahmed Zewail Prize in Molecular Sciences is a biennial award sponsored by Elsevier in collaboration with the international journal Chemical Physics Letters. Named for the journal's Honorary Advisory Editor Professor Zewail, who received the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Prize is awarded to individual scientists who have made significant and creative contributions of a fundamental nature to any of the disciplines of molecular sciences. The winner's research activities may cover theoretical and/or experimental aspects of the studies in all phases of matter and biological systems. The Prize consists of a monetary award of $20,000, a Gold Medal and a certificate, and will be presented in person at a special symposium during the Annual Spring meetings of the American Chemical Society. For more information, see the Ahmed Zewail Prize link on: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cplett

About Chemical Physics Letters

Chemical Physics Letters is an international rapid communications journal publishing the results of frontier research in chemical physics and physical chemistry, molecular sciences, materials science and biological systems. The Editors of the Journal are currently Professors David Clary (University of Oxford, UK), Mitchio Okumura (California Institute of Technology, USA), Richard Saykally (University of California, Berkeley, USA) and Villy Sundstrom (Lund University, Sweden). The Editors are supported by an Advisory Editorial Board of about 100 leading scientists. For more information: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cplett

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com) and Cell (http://www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (http://www.scopus.com), Reaxys (http://www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult (http://www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (http://www.scival.com) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (http://www.medai.com), which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier ( http://www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (http://www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

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SOURCE Elsevier