Rudolph Marcus lecturing students following being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2000s).
Photo Credit : CalTech
Rudolph Marcus, while teaching at the California Institute of Technology.
Photo Credit : CalTech
Rudolph Marcus in 2013.
Photo Credit : CalTech
1923 -
Rudolph Marcus
Rudolph Marcus is a Montreal-born chemist and one of 22 Canadian Nobel Prize winners.
Born in Montreal, Marcus attended Baron Byng High School. As a baby, his mother wheeled him around the McGill campus, predicting that one day he would graduate from the school. In 1946, Marcus did just that, earning his PhD. He worked at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Illinois, and the California Institute for Technology. He was also among the first members of the Canada Research Council.
Mid-century, he developed the Marcus theory, postulating that as more force is applied to a reaction, it initially increases, but the rate of the reaction will eventually decrease. The theory, which has been important to our understanding of electron transfer in photosynthesis and cell metabolism, won Marcus a Nobel Prize in 1992.
Marcus has been the recipient of numerous other awards and honours as well, including a visiting professorship at Oxford, election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Science and membership in the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Canada.
