1. Robert Curl was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of the nanomaterial buckminsterfullerene, and hence the fullerene class of materials, along with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto of the University of Sussex.
16 Facts About Robert Curl
1. 2.
Robert Curl is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas.
3.
Robert Curl received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Rice Institute in 1954.
4.
Robert Curl was attracted to the reputation of both the school's academics and football team, and the fact that at the time it charged no tuition.
5.
Robert Curl earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1957.
6.
Robert Curl inherited the equipment and graduate students of George Bird, a professor who was leaving for a job at Polaroid.
7.
Robert Curl used these observations to develop the theory of their fine structure and hyperfine structure, as well as information about their structure and the kinetics of their reactions.
8.
Robert Curl's research inspired Richard Smalley to come to Rice in 1976 with the intention of collaborating with Robert Curl.
9.
In 1985, Robert Curl was contacted by Harold Kroto, who wanted to use a laser beam apparatus built by Smalley to simulate and study the formation of carbon chains in red giant stars.
10.
Smalley and Robert Curl had previously used this apparatus to study semiconductors such as silicon and germanium.
11.
Robert Curl was responsible for determining the optimal conditions of the carbon vapor in the apparatus, and examining the spectrograph.
12.
Robert Curl is known in the residential college life at Rice University for being the first master of Lovett College.
13.
Robert Curl retired in 2008 at the age of 74, becoming a University Professor Emeritus, Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences Emeritus, and Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Rice University.
14.
Robert Curl married Jonel Whipple in 1955, with whom he had two children.
15.
Robert Curl cycled to his office and lab and every week played bridge with the Rice Bridge Brigade.
16.
Robert Curl died in Houston on July 3,2022, at the age of 88.