Theoretical Chemistry Institute Names Professor Truhlar as 2023-2024 Joseph O. Hirschfelder Awardee

Professor Donald G. Truhlar

Professor Donald Truhlar, a Regents Professor with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota (UMN) has been awarded the 2023-2024 Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry.

Professor Truhlar will visit the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and present talks on October 3 and 4 at 11 a.m. Professor Truhlar will be honored at an award banquet on October 4, 2023, where he will be presented with $15,000 in prize funds.

Professor Truhlar has been a member of the UMN faculty since 1969. His multifaceted research in theoretical and computational chemistry encompasses quantum chemistry, chemical dynamics, solvation, and statistical thermochemistry. Truhlar’s research has generated over 1,330 papers and nearly 90 book chapters. His work has been repeatedly recognized for being some of the most highly cited research in the world.

“Don has made many important and broad contributions to theoretical chemistry in electronic structure calculations, variational transition state theory, solvation models, and quantum mechanical scattering theory”, says Professor and TCI Director Xuhui Huang. “His work has significantly advanced our understanding of chemical dynamics and spectroscopy.”

The Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry, established in 1991, commemorates the life’s work of Prof. Hischfelder as a pioneering member of the theoretical chemistry field. Prof. Hirschfelder had an esteemed career in education, research, and public service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over 40 years. Four Nobel Prize recipients are among the Hirschfelder Prize honorees. Truhlar is the first University of Minnesota professor to receive this honor.