Canadian-Born Chemist Wins 1992 Nobel Prize

Rudolph Marcus, a native of Montréal who received his PhD in chemistry from McGill University in 1946, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1992. He earned the 1.2 million dollar award for his calculations on how electrons move around in chemical reactions. Previous Chemistry Nobel Laureates with Canadian connections include Ernest Rutherford (1908), James Sumner (1946), Gerhard Herzberg (1971), Henry Taube (1983), John Polanyi (1986) and Sidney Altman (1989).

Professor Marcus is a theoretical chemist (a chemist who does calculations rather than experiments) now working at the California Institute of Technology. He decided to become a citizen of the United States nine years after he left Canada, before dual citizenship was allowed. In order to regain his Canadian status he was told he would have to return to live here for five years.

Professor Marcus' involvement with theoretical chemistry began when he was at the National Research Council in Ottawa. He had a habit of breaking equipment and that would put his research on hold until the device was fixed again. He has said, "If you are going to do theoretical work, breaking your pencil does not have such disastrous effects." As it turns out, the switch from experiment to theory was a good one. Dr. Marcus has been extremely successful in his chosen line of research.