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Harold Basch

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Harold Basch
Basch in 2017
Born(1940-11-29)29 November 1940
The Bronx, New York City
Died8 November 2018(2018-11-08) (aged 77)
CitizenshipIsraeli
Alma materYeshiva University
Columbia University
Scientific career
FieldsComputational chemistry
InstitutionsBar Ilan University
Doctoral advisorHarry B. Gray

Harold Basch (Hebrew: הרולד בש; 29 November 1940 – 8 November 2018) was a professor of chemistry who specialized in computational chemistry.

Biography[edit]

Harold Basch[1][2] was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York City. He obtained his B.A. from Yeshiva University (1962) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University (1966) under the supervision of Harry B. Gray. He did a postdoctoral research at Bell Telephone Laboratories (1966-1968) and was a principal research scientist at Ford Motor Company (Dearborn, Michigan) (1968–1971). In 1970 he joined the chemistry department at Bar-Ilan University (BIU)[3][4] as an associate professor and became a full professor in 1977. He lived in Rehovot was married to Julia and had 5 children.

Administrative activities[edit]

His involvement in academic administration began early with an appointment as chairman of the department of chemistry at BIU (1973–1976).[3] As an active member of the University's Senate, he served on and chaired many committees. Between the years 1988 and 1990, he served as the dean of the faculty of sciences and mathematics[5] and held several tenures as a member of the executive board of the Senate.[6] Among his others administrative activities, Basch served as the academic head of the Holon Institute of Technology (1978-1981), was a member of the Council for Higher Education in Israel (1985–1991), served on scientific grants committees of the Israel Science Foundation, was a member of the scientific board of the Israel Inter-University Computation Center, was appointed to the National Council for Research and Development (Prime Minister's Office)[7] and was a member of the computer grants committee of The Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC).[8] During the years 2005–2011, he served as the vice president for research at Bar-Ilan University.[2][9][10][11]

Scientific activities[edit]

His main research interest was in the field of computational chemistry. Basch was a pioneer in computational quantum chemistry, in developing methods and innovative applications of theoretical concepts and equations to solving problems in chemistry.[12] Already in 1962, as a beginning graduate student at Columbia University, he recognized the potential use of the computer (which then filled a whole building), in chemical research. The methods and paradigms he developed are used today in modern software packages for the calculation of molecular properties.[13][14][15] The list of applications he has been involved in include electron, electronic and photoelectronic spectroscopies, energetics, geometric and electronic structures, chemical reaction paths, intermediates, and transition states, metal-ligand, metal-metal, metal cluster bonding, and active site reactions in metalloenzymes.[16][17][18][19][20] The theoretical methods include single and multi-configuration molecular orbital theory, valence bond theory, and effective core and effective fragment potentials. His latest research efforts were directed towards finding appropriate molecular bridges that can serve as nano-conducting and switching elements in molecular electronics.[12]

During his career, Basch published more than 180 papers and book chapters.[12][21][22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Harold Basch, Bar-Ilan University
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Remembering Former Vice President for Research Prof. Harold Basch - Bar-Ilan University
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Chemistry Department, BIU
  4. ^ Faculty of Exact Sciences, Department of Chemistry - BIU
  5. ^ Faculty of Exact Sciences, BIU
  6. ^ University Senate, Bar-Ilan University
  7. ^ National Council for Civilian Research and Development
  8. ^ The Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC)
  9. ^ The Bar-Ilan University (BIU) Research Authority
  10. ^ Bar-Ilan Office of the Spokesperson, November 2011
  11. ^ Bar-Ilan Office of the Spokesperson, November 2010
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c Harold Basch's research works - full list of publications
  13. ^ Musaev, Djamaladdin G.; Basch, Harold; Morokuma, Keiji (2002). "The N≡N Triple Bond Activation by Transition Metal Complexes". Computational Modeling of Homogeneous Catalysis. Catalysis by Metal Complexes. Vol. 25. pp. 325–361. doi:10.1007/0-306-47718-1_13. ISBN 978-1-4020-0933-4. ISSN 0920-4652.
  14. ^ Musaev, Djamaladdin G.; Basch, Harold; Morokuma, Keiji (2002). "Theoretical Study of the Mechanism of Alkane Hydroxylation and Ethylene Epoxidation Reactions Catalyzed by Diiron Bis-oxo Complexes. The Effect of Substrate Molecules". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 124 (15): 4135–4148. doi:10.1021/ja0176393. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 11942853.
  15. ^ Torrent, Maricel; Musaev, Djamaladdin G.; Basch, Harold; Morokuma, Keiji (2002). "Computational studies of reaction mechanisms of methane monooxygenase and ribonucleotide reductase". Journal of Computational Chemistry. 23 (1): 59–76. doi:10.1002/jcc.1157. ISSN 0192-8651. PMID 11913390. S2CID 24420102.
  16. ^ Basch, Harold; Ratner, Mark A. (2003). "Binding at molecule/gold transport interfaces. I. Geometry and bonding". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 119 (22): 11926–11942. Bibcode:2003JChPh.11911926B. doi:10.1063/1.1613941. ISSN 0021-9606.
  17. ^ Basch, Harold; Ratner, Mark A. (2003). "Binding at molecule/gold transport interfaces. II. Orbitals and density of states". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 119 (22): 11943–11950. Bibcode:2003JChPh.11911943B. doi:10.1063/1.1613942. ISSN 0021-9606.
  18. ^ Basch, Harold; Ratner, Mark A. (2004). "Molecular binding at gold transport interfaces. III. Field dependence of electronic properties". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 120 (12): 5761–5770. Bibcode:2004JChPh.120.5761B. doi:10.1063/1.1650293. ISSN 0021-9606. PMID 15267455.
  19. ^ Basch, Harold; Ratner, Mark A. (2004). "Molecular binding at gold transport interfaces. IV. Thiol chemisorption". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 120 (12): 5771–5780. Bibcode:2004JChPh.120.5771B. doi:10.1063/1.1650294. ISSN 0021-9606. PMID 15267456.
  20. ^ Basch, Harold; Ratner, Mark A. (2005). "Binding at molecule/gold transport interfaces. V. Comparison of different metals and molecular bridges". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 123 (23): 234704. Bibcode:2005JChPh.123w4704B. doi:10.1063/1.1947747. ISSN 0021-9606. PMID 16392941.
  21. ^ "Prof. Harold Basch - Research Authority, BIU". Archived from the original on 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  22. ^ dblp computer science bibliography

External links[edit]

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