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Robert G. Parr, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been awarded the 2009 Award in Theoretical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.

Robert G. Parr, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been awarded the 2009 Award in Theoretical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.

The award recognizes innovative research in theoretical chemistry that either advances theoretical methodology or contributes to new discoveries about chemical systems.

Parr has been a pioneer in the field of quantum chemistry since the 1950s. His work has influenced thousands of chemists, physicists and other scientists. His book, “Quantum Theory of Molecular Electronic Structure” (1963), was one of the first to apply quantum theory to a broad range of chemical systems. He is also the author of “Density Functional Theory of Atoms and Molecules” (1989).

In 1988, Parr and colleagues published an improved method of approximating correlation energy (a mathematical expression that accounts for how electrons in a many-electron system interact with one another). The Lee-Yang-Parr (LYP) method has been cited more than 22,000 times, making it one of the most highly cited papers in chemistry. Now 20 years old, it remains the most widely used method and has been cited in papers ranging from nanotechnology developments to the synthesis of antibiotics.

Parr joined UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1974. He was named Wassily Hoeffding Professor of Chemical Physics in 1990; he retired in 1991. He is a previous winner of a National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences.

Read a profile of Robert G. Parr at http://research.unc.edu/endeavors/fall2004/parr.html.

College of Arts and Sciences contact:
Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093, spurrk@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: Patric Lane, (919) 962-8596, patric_lane@unc.edu

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