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Robert Ghormley Parr

September 22, 1921–March 27, 2017

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Abstract

As one of the founders of quantum chemistry, Robert G. Parr (RGP) was an influential theoretical chemist of the last few decades. He made enormous scientific contributions to both wave function theory and density functional theory. He was also the founding father of conceptual density functional theory.

RGP was both a devoted scientist and a family man. RGP met the love of his life, Jane Bolstad (who passed away on January 26, 2020, at the age of 97), at the University of Minnesota when they were graduate students. They successfully navigated 72 years of marriage with three children, Steven Parr of Tokyo, Jeanne Lemkau and Carol Lachenman, both of Chapel Hill.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to RGP’s daughters, Jeanne Lemkau and Carol Lachenman, both of Chapel Hill, and RGP’s granddaughter, Karin Lemkau of Western Washington University, for their kind comments, suggestions, and contributions. With PhD from MIT in chemical oceanography and environmental chemistry, Karin represents the new chemist generation from the RGP family!

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ONL8S 4M1, Canada

    Paul W. Ayers

  2. Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721 302, India

    Pratim K. Chattaraj

  3. Research Computing Center & Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3420, USA

    Shubin Liu

  4. Department of Chemistry and Ames National Laboratory USDOE, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA

    Klaus Ruedenberg

  5. Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    Weitao Yang

Authors
  1. Paul W. Ayers
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  2. Pratim K. Chattaraj
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  3. Shubin Liu
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  4. Klaus Ruedenberg
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  5. Weitao Yang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Paul W. Ayers, Pratim K. Chattaraj, Shubin Liu, Klaus Ruedenberg or Weitao Yang.

Additional information

Paul W. Ayers: Professor at McMaster University and Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Chemistry.

Pratim Kumar Chattaraj: Professor at IIT Kharagpur and a Sir J.C. Bose National Fellow.

Shubin Liu: Senior Computational Scientist in the Research Computing Center & Adjunct Professor in Department of Chemistry at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Klaus Ruedenberg: Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Associate in the Ames National Laboratory, USDOE, Iowa State University.

Weitao Yang: Philip Handler Professor of Chemistry at Duke University.

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Ayers, P.W., Chattaraj, P.K., Liu, S. et al. Robert Ghormley Parr. Reson 28, 1011–1035 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-023-1634-0

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