SEP 24, 2015 12:00 AM
The Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) has appointed Dr. Joachim Sauer its 2015-2016 Ipatieff Lecturer. The lectureship was established in 1988, and aims to enhance the experience of graduate students and post doctorate researchers by sponsoring extended visits to CCSS for internationally distinguished researchers.
Dr. Sauer has been a professor of Theoretical Chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin since 1993, and an external member of the Fritz Haber Institute (Max Planck Society) since 2006. His research explores the application of quantum chemical methods in chemistry, with an emphasis on surface science, particularly adsorption and catalysis. He was the chairman of the Collaborative Research Center of the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 1999 to 2011, and is a co-founder and principal investigator of the DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence “Unifying Concepts in Catalysis,” or UniCat, in Berlin. Dr. Sauer also serves as an editor of the Journal of Catalysis.
The Vladimir N. Ipatieff Lectureship is named after the Northwestern professor, regarded as the father of high-pressure heterogeneous catalysis. Ipatieff established a laboratory at Northwestern in 1931, which was home to many breakthroughs in catalysis, including the discovery of a high-octane aviation fuel credited with helping British pilots win the Battle of Britain in 1940. Dr. Sauer’s first Ipatieff Lecture, entitled “Ab initio free energy calculations with chemical accuracy for molecule - surface interactions” will take place on Northwestern’s Evanston campus on Thursday, October 8th, 2015, from 12 – 1pm, in Ryan 4003. He is expected to return in Spring 2016 for an extended visit.