Herbert Leopold Strauss (March 26, 1936–December 2, 2014) was an American chemist who specialized in

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

. His family fled Nazi Germany and eventually immigrated to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University. He spent the entirety of his career at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Early life and education

Herbert Leopold Strauss, who went by "Herb", was born on March 26, 1936, in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, Germany to parents Joan and Charles Strauss. He had a younger brother, Walter. The Strauss family escaped Germany in 1939, arriving in England. While in London, Herbert Strauss was temporarily placed in an orphanage, where he became seriously ill from

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

and nearly died. The family eventually immigrated to

Kew Gardens, Queens Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway, to the east by the Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to ...

in New York City. There, his father worked as a real estate agent and his mother worked in a clothing store. Strauss received both a bachelor's degree (1957) and a PhD (1960) in chemistry from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

Upon finishing his PhD, he spent a year conducting post-doctoral research at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. The first teaching position he accepted was at the

; he would remain at UC Berkeley for the rest of his career. He specialized in

, using

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is a technique used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption or emission of a solid, liquid, or gas. An FTIR spectrometer simultaneously collects high-resolution spectral data over a wide spectr ...

to determine the traits of various molecules. He also employed

Raman spectroscopy Raman spectroscopy () (named after physicist C. V. Raman) is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Ra ...

and

neutron spectroscopy Neutron spectroscopy is a spectroscopic method of measuring atomic and magnetic motions by measuring the kinetic energy of emitted neutrons. The measured neutrons may be emitted directly (for example, by nuclear reactions), or they may scatter off ...

"to study the rotations and vibrations of molecular hydrogen embedded in various systems". From 1976 to 2000, he was the

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the ''

Annual Review of Physical Chemistry ''Annual Review of Physical Chemistry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews. It covers all topics pertaining to physical chemistry. The editors are Todd J. Martínez (Stanford University) and Anne McCoy (Universi ...

''. From 1995–2008, he was the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Affairs. He officially retired from Berkeley in 2003, though continued to teach until shortly before his death.

Awards and honors

In 1976, he was elected as a fellow to the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

. In 1994, he won both the Bomem-Michelson Prize for Spectroscopy and the Lippincott Award for Vibrational Spectroscopy. In 2003 he received the Berkeley Citation and Berkeley Faculty Service Award.

Personal life and death

In 1957, he met Carolyn North Cooper at a church in Manhattan during a midnight mass, despite both being Jewish. He and Carolyn had three children together. He enjoyed cycling, and commuted to and from campus each day via bicycle. Strauss died on December 2, 2014, at his home in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Herbert L 1936 births 2014 deaths People from Aachen Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Spectroscopists Columbia College (New York) alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Fellows of the American Physical Society Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni