Francisco Jose Yndurain Muñoz

Francisco Jose Yndurain Muñoz (December 23, 1940mdashJune 6, 2008) was a Spanish theoretical physicist. He founded the particle physics research group that became the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where he was a Professor. [ [http://www.ft.uam.es Department of Theoretical Physics] at the Autonomous University of Madrid.] He was described by his colleagues as "a scientist that always searched for excellence in research". [Antonio González Arrollo and J. L. Sánchez Gómez, " [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/Necrologicas/investigador/cientifico/siempre/busco/excelencia/elpepinec/20080607elpepinec_2/Tes Un investigador científico que siempre buscó la excelencia] ", "El País", 7 June 2008 (accessed 9 October 2008).]

Early life

Yndurain was born in Benavente (Zamora) and grew up in Saragossa. After graduating from Saragossa’s San Agustin High school, Yndurain received his M.S. degree in mathematics in 1962 and in 1964 his Ph.D. in physics. He obtained both degrees from the University of Zaragoza (Spain).While completing his doctoral studies, he was a visiting scientist at CERN and a Teaching Assistant at the University of Zaragoza (Spain).

Career

Yndurain was an associate professor at the University of Zaragoza until 1966. He was a researcher at New York University from 1966 to 1968, at which point he moved to Geneva to become a research fellow at CERN until 1970. He was a Researcher at CERN from then on, as a Senior Scientific Associate (1976-1992), and as a member of the Scientific Policy committee (1988-1994).

In 1970 he took the professor position in Madrid (at the Complutense University and immediately after at the Autonomus University) where he founded and headed the Particle Physics Research group. [Martinus J. G. Veltman, [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1999/veltman-autobio.html Nobel Prize Autobiography] .] He was Director of the Department of Theoretical Physics (1974-1977 and 1981-1984), Dean of the Faculty of Science (1975) and Deputy President (1978-1981) of the Autonomous University of Madrid.

He also held other short term appointments at other universities worldwide:
* Central University of Venezuelain Caracas, Venezuela (1967).
* Paris-Sud 11 University, Paris, France (1969 and 1970).
* University of Groningen, Netherlands (1973).
* Universite de Marseille, Marseille, France (1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982)
* University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2001).
* National University of La Plata, Argentina (1994).
* Princeton University, New Jersey, USA (2008).

He collaborated with other research centers:
* Brookhaven National Laboratory (1984).
* National Institute for Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics NIKHEF, 1997 and 2001).
* Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (1980 and 1982).
* Centro lationamericano de Física in Bogotá, Columbia (1985, 1986 and 1987). [ [http://www.cbpf.br/~claf/index2.html Centro lationamericano de Física] .]

He was a member of the Royal Spanish Physical Society, [ [http://www.rsef.org/ Royal Spanish Physical Society] .] Royal Academy of Exact Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain, [ [http://www.rac.es/ Royal Academy of Exact Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain] ] where he was president of the Physics and Chemistry section from 2002 to 2006. He was also member of the American Physical Society, founding member of the European Physical Society and member of the European Academy of Sciences energy committee. On 2004 he was nominated general secretary of the Instituto de España.

Notable Awards

* 1986: Nominated Cavaliere Ufficiale nell’Ordine al Merito,one of the main Italian orders of merit.
* 1990: Annual Award of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences.
* 1992: Elected Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences. [ [http://www.rac.es/ "Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences"] .]
* 1994: Nominated Distinguished Guest by the University of La Plata
* 1995: Elected member of European Academy of Sciences and Arts
* 2001: Nominated member of The World Innovation Foundation. [ [http://www.thewif.org.uk/ The World Innovation Foundation] .]
* 2003: Gold medal for scientific excellence of the Spanish Academy of Physics.

elected publications

Yndurain was an expert in quantum field theory and its application to elementary particles. [Alberta Galindo Tixaire, " [http://www.rac.es/ficheros /doc/00503.pdf IN MEMORIAM: Excmo. Sr. D. Francisco Ynduráin Muñoz (1940-2008)] ", 1 July 2008 (accessed 10 October 2008).] He authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers on high energy physics, nuclear physics and mathematical physics.

In 1983, Yndurain published a widely used book advanced textbook on quantum theory for graduate students, "Quantum Chromodynamics: An Introduction to the Theory of Quarks and Gluons". The book has been translated into Russian as "Kvantovaia Khromodinamika". The book was expanded twice: once in 1996 as "Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and Introduction to Field Theory", and again in 1999 as "The Theory of Quark and Gluon Interactions".

Yndurain also wrote books on science for a broader audience. In 1997 he published a book discussing UFOs theories, "Quién anda ahí?", which won the Golondriz award for intelligent humor in 1998. In 2002 he published a book about the structure of matter entitled "Electrones, neutrinos y quarks". Finally, in 2004 he published a book about science, scientists and history entitled "Los desafíos de la ciencia".

References