George C. Pimentel

George Claude Pimentel (1922 – 1989) was the inventor of the chemical laser. He also developed the modern technique of matrix isolation in low-temperature chemistry. In theoretical chemistry, he proposed the three-centre four-electron bond which is now accepted as the best simple model of hypervalent molecules.

An alumnus of University of California, Los Angeles (B.S. 1943) and University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1949), Pimentel began teaching at Berkeley in 1949, where he remained until his death in 1989.

Honours and awards

The George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education was named in his honour, as well as the main chemistry lecture hall at Berkeley, 1 Pimentel Hall.

*Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1982)
*National Medal of Science (1985)
*Welch Award (1986)
*Priestley Medal (1989)

External links

*cite web | author= | title=George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education | url=http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1319&content_id=CTP_004528&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1 | publisher=American Chemical Society | date=2007 | accessdate=2008-09-17

*cite web | author=Jeanne Pimentel| title=George C. Pimentel Website | url=http://georgecpimentel.tripod.com/index.htm| date=2003 | accessdate=2007-11-19
*cite web | author=Ann Thayer| title=The Priestley Medal - 1989: George C. Pimentel (1922-1989) Chemical & Engineering News, April 7, 2008| url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/priestley/recipients/1989pimentel.html | accessdate=2008-09-17
*cite web | author=C.Bradley Moore| title=George Claude Pimentel 1922-89 A Biographical Memoir| url=http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/gpimentel.pdf| publisher=National Academy of Sciences| date=2007| accessdate=2008-09-17

Persondata
NAME = Pimentel, George C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Pimentel, George
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Chemist, academic
DATE OF BIRTH = 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH = 1989
PLACE OF DEATH =