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Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to RESOLV Member Benjamin List- for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis
NCCR MUST at Scientifica 2021- Lightning, organic solar cells, and virtual molecules

Ahmed H. Zewail 1946 - 2016: Obituary

Zewail
On August 2nd 2016, Caltech Professor and Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail passed away at the age of 70. Among his numerous Distinctions, he was Doctor Honoris Causa of the Université de Lausanne (1997), of the EPFL (2009) and had received the Paul Karrer Medal of the University of Zürich (1997). Back in the mid-1980s, he was the first to use femtosecond laser technology to solve problems in chemistry and biology. In this respect, he implemented the so-called pump-probe method in the femtosecond time domain, which he applied systematically to problems of growing complexity. This culminated in his earning the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1999. Parallel to these achievements, throughout the 1990s, he also pioneered ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy, demonstrating their power at solving problems in chemistry, biology and materials science.
Ahmed Zewail had an amazing ability at communicating the power of the methods he developed, by identifying the system that would best explain a phenomenon. He was a real genius, the kind of person for whom no matter how complex a question is, he would find the answer. As a matter of fact, Femtochemistry and ultrafast electron-based Science developed into dynamic fields in less than 10 years thanks to the spectacular, yet deep, breakthroughs he achieved.
Reaching the acmes of prestige and international recognition did not change his character. Being from Egypt, he always felt he had a duty to help and lift the level of education in his country in particular, but also in Southern countries in general, what he used to call the “have nots”. His dream for decades was to create a first class scientific university in Egypt, and this dream became reality in the past few years. This was at the cost of a huge effort, which only a personality like his could undertake.
The scientific community is not only mourning the death of a leader and a pioneer in science, but also a personality with a vast culture, a contagious enthusiasm and uplifting spirit and most of all, with a never failing humbleness, respect and kindness in his relation to anyone.
May his Soul rest in Peace.

M. Chergui
Lausanne Centre for Ultrafast Science (LACUS), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne


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