A. David Buckingham

A. David Buckingham was formerly a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, UK. He was known for his research in the area of chemical physics and specifically, the measurement and understanding of the electric, magnetic and optical properties of molecules and the theory of intermolecular forces. He received the 2001 Charles Hard Townes Medal “for his many theoretical and experimental contributions to electro-optics and magneto-optics, including the invention and application of a direct method for measuring molecular electric quadruple moments.” Buckingham had the very special distinction of having a unit named after him, the Buckingham is the CGS unit of the electric quadrupole.

He studied chemistry at the University of Sydney under Professor Raymond Le Fevre, completing a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree. Following his studies at the University of Sydney, Buckingham pursued a PhD at the University of Cambridge, where he was supervised by the theoretical chemist John Pople. In 1965, Buckingham was appointed to the first Chair of Theoretical Chemistry in Bristol and in 1969, accepted a position as a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He would be in that post for 28 years during which time, for 21 years, he edited the International journal, Chemical Physics Letters.

Buckingham received numerous recognitions for his research including being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (1975), OSA Fellow (2001) and American Physical Society Fellow (1986). He was a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (1992),a member of the Swedish National Academy, and a Corresponding Member of the Australian Academy of Science (2008). In 2006, he was the inaugural recipient of the Ahmed Zewail Prize in Molecular Sciences for pioneering contributions to the molecular sciences. Buckingham also received the Harrie Massey Medal and Prize (1995) presented jointly by the Institute of Physics and the Australian Institute of Physics.