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William James Orville-Thomas (1921–2009)
Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM 939 (2010) v
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/theochem
Obituary
William James Orville-Thomas (1921–2009)
THEOCHEM as well, so: Professor Orville-Thomas, the Founding Editor of the Journal of Molecular Structure and the Journal of Molecular Structure (Theochem), passed away in November. William James Orville-Thomas was born on 13 October 1921 at Llanelli, near Swansea. He was educated at universities in Wales, in Germany and in the USA. In 1966, he was appointed to the Chair of Physical Chemistry at the University of Salford. He stayed at Salford University for the rest of his career, and after his retirement was appointed Professor Emeritus. In 1967 he was the founding editor of the Journal of Molecular Structure and in 1985 (with I.G. Csizmadia) of the Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM). The Journal of Molecular Structure became very popular within a short period and the number of submissions increased substantially. While it took five years to publish the first ten volumes of the journal, the next ten were published in half of that time, and soon ten volumes per year were published. The journal continued to grow and therefore it was decided to launch in 1985 a journal dedicated to the theoretical and computational investigation of molecular
doi:10.1016/S0166-1280(09)00807-0
systems, the Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM). By the time that he stepped down as Editor, Orville-Thomas had been responsible for editing more than 300 volumes of these journals. Professor Orville-Thomas’ research interests centered on the nature of chemical bonds in isolated molecules and on molecular interactions. This work attracted post-doctoral associates from many countries, particularly from Eastern Europe, and his international reputation as a spectroscopist and theoretician was reinforced by the publication of books such as The Structure of Small Molecules (1954) and Internal Rotation in Molecules (1974). He also had a long-standing involvement with the EUCMOS series of conferences. These activities made him one of the most successful molecular spectroscopists of his generation. The publishing team, Editors and Editorial Boards of the Journal of Molecular Structure and of the Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM) wish to pay tribute to Professor Orville-Thomas’s significant contribution to the publication of both journals and to the scientific field of molecular structure.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/theochem
Obituary
William James Orville-Thomas (1921–2009)
THEOCHEM as well, so: Professor Orville-Thomas, the Founding Editor of the Journal of Molecular Structure and the Journal of Molecular Structure (Theochem), passed away in November. William James Orville-Thomas was born on 13 October 1921 at Llanelli, near Swansea. He was educated at universities in Wales, in Germany and in the USA. In 1966, he was appointed to the Chair of Physical Chemistry at the University of Salford. He stayed at Salford University for the rest of his career, and after his retirement was appointed Professor Emeritus. In 1967 he was the founding editor of the Journal of Molecular Structure and in 1985 (with I.G. Csizmadia) of the Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM). The Journal of Molecular Structure became very popular within a short period and the number of submissions increased substantially. While it took five years to publish the first ten volumes of the journal, the next ten were published in half of that time, and soon ten volumes per year were published. The journal continued to grow and therefore it was decided to launch in 1985 a journal dedicated to the theoretical and computational investigation of molecular
doi:10.1016/S0166-1280(09)00807-0
systems, the Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM). By the time that he stepped down as Editor, Orville-Thomas had been responsible for editing more than 300 volumes of these journals. Professor Orville-Thomas’ research interests centered on the nature of chemical bonds in isolated molecules and on molecular interactions. This work attracted post-doctoral associates from many countries, particularly from Eastern Europe, and his international reputation as a spectroscopist and theoretician was reinforced by the publication of books such as The Structure of Small Molecules (1954) and Internal Rotation in Molecules (1974). He also had a long-standing involvement with the EUCMOS series of conferences. These activities made him one of the most successful molecular spectroscopists of his generation. The publishing team, Editors and Editorial Boards of the Journal of Molecular Structure and of the Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM) wish to pay tribute to Professor Orville-Thomas’s significant contribution to the publication of both journals and to the scientific field of molecular structure.