Nobel Laureate in Chemistry to Speak at Smith

Richard Ernst, a native of Switzerland who received the 1991 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his contributions to the development of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, will give two public lectures at Smith on Tuesday, October 19.

At 4:30 p.m., in McConnell Hall 404, Ernst will discuss "Exploring the Dynamics of Biomolecules by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance." At 8 p.m., in McConnell Auditorium, he will give a more general talk titled "NMR Adventures in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Medicine, or How to Win a Nobel Prize." A reception in McConnell Foyer will follow.

Both events are free and open to the public.

In the 1960s, while working as a research scientist in California, Ernst pioneered the development of Fourier Transform NMR, a critical advance in the sensitivity and applicability of nuclear magnetic resonance technology. Since then, working in Switzerland, Ernst and his research group have continued to develop innovative applications of NMR spectroscopy. These methodologies have had profound effects not only in chemistry, in which they have changed the way molecular structures are determined, but in the fields of physics and biology as well.

In medicine, a significant application of Ernst's work is magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, a highly sensitive, non-invasive method used to produce images of abnormal tissues inside the body. MRI is now one of the most widely used imaging techniques in medical science.

Ernst is currently professor of chemistry and research council president at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich.