Axel D. Becke

Axel D. Becke (born June 10, 1953) is a physical chemist and Professor of Chemistry at Dalhousie University. He is a leading researcher in the application of Density Functional Theory to molecules.

Early life

Becke was born in Esslingen, Germany on June 10, 1953. He graduated with a B.Sc. in 1975 from Queen's University. He completed his M.Sc. in 1977 and Ph.D. in 1981 from McMaster University.

Academic career

From 1981 to 1983, Becke was NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Dalhousie University. Currently, he is a Professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Research

Becke contributed in the development of non-LCAO, grid-based numerical methodologies for molecular orbital calculations. He was also contributed in the development and benchmarking of exchange-correlation functionals in Kohn-Sham density-functional theory. His known for his highly cited work on the density-functional theory of atomic and molecular structure.

Density functional theory (DFT) was originally designed to describe metallic solid state systems. Becke, along with his co-researcher J.P Perdew, demonstrated that that DFT could be an effective tool in quantum chemistry as well, where it is used to describe the structure and energetics of molecules. He developed a valuable computational technique (NUMOL) which allowed a new level of precision. His work has led to advancement in many areas of chemistry and physics, where his methods are used to calculate the molecular properties of large and complex molecular systems with greater accuracy.

In 2000 he was awarded the Schroedinger Medal from the World Association of Theoretically Oriented Chemists.

References

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External links

* [http://chemistry.dal.ca/Faculty/Professors/Becke%2C_Axel.php Personal webpage at Dalhousie University]