Paul von Ragué Schleyer, 1930–2014

Paul von Ragué Schleyer, a world-renowned physical organic chemist and Princeton alumnus, died on November 21 at his home in Georgia.

Schleyer made significant contributions to the fields of physical organic, inorganic, organometallic and theoretical chemistry. He was a pioneer in computational chemistry and was also recognized for his discovery of new molecular structures.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University in 1951 with an A.B. in chemistry. Schleyer then obtained an M.A. in chemistry in 1956 and a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry in 1957 under Paul D. Bartlett at Harvard University.

Returning to Princeton University first as an instructor, Schleyer became a member of the research faculty and was appointed the Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry in 1969. In 1976, he went on to the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Germany, where he served as codirector of the Organic Institute then founding director of the Computer Chemistry center before retiring as professor emeritus in 1998. He then joined the University of Georgia as Graham Purdue Professor and professorial fellow at the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry.

Schleyer’s work was hugely influential and has been recognized by many awards. Our deepest condolences go to his family and friends.

More information on Schleyer’s life and work can be found in this article from Chemical & Engineering News:

http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/web/2014/11/Paul-von-RaguSchleyer-Dies-84.html.