What a great loss to the community ! A true giant has bid adieu. The
ENC will definitely feel his absence rather painfully. Thanks to the
Asilomar conferences, even small fry commoners like me could experience a
bit of his magic in flesh and blood and approach him during the breaks with
decidedly silly questions that were kindly received and contemplated by Ray
!
With the passing in quick succession of the giants of NMR field in recent
times, it feels as if the giant redwood trees located not too far from
Asilomar, are falling down.
Thank you for helping countless unknown NMR enthusiasts, Prof. Freeman !
Rest In Peace.
fellow NMR traveler
=========================
On Wed, May 4, 2022 at 11:30 AM AMMRL List <
ammrlrev_at_webserver2.chem.hawaii.edu> wrote:
> We write with the very sad news that Ray Freeman died, aged 90, on 1st May.
>
> Ray completed his DPhil at Oxford with Rex Richards in 1957. After
> postdoctoral work with Anatole Abragam at Saclay and at the National
> Physical Laboratory, he moved to the research department at Varian
> Associates in Palo Alto, then at the cutting edge of developments in NMR.
> He was to retain strong links with Varian until its takeover by Agilent and
> subsequent closure. In 1973 he took up his first academic post, at the
> University of Oxford, where he rose to be the Aldrichian Praelector before
> moving to Cambridge. Ray was the Plummer Professor at the University of
> Cambridge from 1987 until his retirement in 1999, but remained active in
> collaborative research long after that date, continuing to publish into his
> 80s.
>
> He played a major part in the blossoming of NMR techniques and their
> chemical applications that followed the introduction of Fourier transform
> methods in 1972. His group in Oxford pioneered many new methods in 2D NMR,
> selective excitation and broadband decoupling, pulse sequence elements that
> are now part of every NMR spectroscopist’s toolkit and that are in daily
> use in every NMR laboratory. Ray was a superb communicator, and was often
> the star turn at NMR conferences - his presentations were
> characteristically littered with wry jokes and self-deprecating remarks,
> and illustrated by beautiful hand-drawn slides and cartoons. He was a
> wonderful mentor to his students, who remember with great fondness his
> warmth, humour and creativity. Many members of his group have gone on to
> achieve significant success in their own right, and all acknowledge Ray as
> a significant influence on their careers.
>
> Ray was a gentleman scientist, somewhat of the old school, and a devoted
> family man. He will be greatly missed, but warmly remembered by all who had
> the privilege of working with him.
>
>
>
> Gareth Morris (Manchester)
>
> James Keeler (Cambridge)
>
>
--
____________________________________
Rajan K Paranji, Ph.D.NMR Facility Manager
*Department of Chemistry**Room 65, Bagley Hall*
University of WashingtonSeattle, WA 98195
phone : 206 685 2581 fax: 206 685 8665email: rajanp_at_uw.edu
____________________________________________________________________
Received on Wed May 04 2022 - 09:54:58 MST