Gregory Choppin

Gregory Robert Choppin (born November 9, 1927 in Eagle Lake , Texas ; † October 21, 2015 in Tallahassee , Florida ) was an American chemist and from 1956 to 2001 professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee / Florida. His research interests focused on the behavior of mostly radioactive substances (especially actinides ) in aqueous solutions ( nuclear chemistry , complex chemistry, physical chemistry, environmental chemistry). He is a co-discoverer of three elements ( Mendelevium , Fermium , Einsteinium ).

Life

Gregory Choppin studied at Loyola University with a bachelor's degree in 1949 and received his doctorate in chemistry (Potentiometric titrations in liquid ammonia) at the University of Texas with George Willard Watt in 1953 . 1953 to 1956 he was involved in the discovery of mendelevium at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and as an employee of Glenn T. Seaborg (1955, with Seaborg, Stanley G. Thompson , Albert Ghiorso , Bernard G. Harvey ). He was also involved in the production of other transuranic elements (Fermium, Einsteinium). In 1956 he became an assistant professor and since 1963 he was professor of chemistry at Florida State University . Most recently, he was Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He taught at the university until 2001. A university chair is named after him.

He was a visiting scientist at the Belgian Study Center for Nuclear Energy in Mol in 1962/63 , was a Fulbright lecturer in Uruguay and Portugal, in 1979/80 (as a Humboldt Research Award winner ) at the Institute for Transuranium Elements in Karlsruhe, was a visiting professor in Tokyo and at the Japan Society for the Doctorate of Science.

He dealt with physical chemistry and environmental behavior of actinides and lanthanoids . The final storage of highly radioactive waste from nuclear weapon production and the use of nuclear energy formed the focus of his work. He was the author and co-author of 13 books and over 500 scientific papers. He placed particular emphasis on scientific cooperation. He has over 400 co-authors. His laboratory at Florida State University was a meeting place for international young scientists from all continents.

Greg Choppin received honorary doctorates from Loyola University and Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg . He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . In 1985 he received the Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry and in 1997 the Chemical Pioneer Award .

Gregory Choppin had four children (Denise, Suzanne, Paul, Nadine) with his wife Ann Warner.

Fonts

• with Albert Ghiorso , Bernard G. Harvey , Stanley G. Thompson , Glenn T. Seaborg : New Element Mendelevium, Atomic Number 101 , Phys. Rev., Volume 98, 1955, p. 1518.
• with AJ Chatham-Strode: Ion exchange behavior of the actinide elements in hydrochloric acid , Inorg. Nucl. Chem., Vol. 15, 1960, pp. 377-383
• with HG Brittain, PP Barthelemy: ph-dependence of the metal ion hydration state in lanthanide complexes of polyaminopolycarboxylate ligands , J. Coord. Chem., Vol. 26, 1992, pp. 143-153
• A half-century of lanthanide aminopolycarboxylates , J. Alloy Comp., Vol. 192, 1993, 256-261
• with EN Rizkalla: Hydration and hydrolysis of lanthanides , in: KA Gschneider, L. Eyring (Ed.), Handbook of the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths, Amsterdam: Elsevier 1991, Chapter 103, pp. 393-442
• with Jan-Olov Liljenzen, Jan Rydberg, Christian Ekberg: Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry, 4th edition, Academic Press 2013

Web links

• Homepage
• Literature by and about Gregory Choppin in the WorldCat bibliographic database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Life data according to American Men and Women of Science , Thomson Gale 2004.
2. ↑ Obituary with photo
3. ^ Biographical data, publications and academic family tree of Gregory R. Choppin at academictree.org, accessed on January 28, 2018.