Harold Basch Explained

Harold Basch
Birth Date:	29 November 1940
Birth Place:	The Bronx, New York City
Citizenship:	Israeli
Field:	Computational chemistry
Work Institutions:	Bar Ilan University
Alma Mater:	Yeshiva University Columbia University
Doctoral Advisor:	Harry B. Gray

Harold Basch (Hebrew: הרולד בש; 29 November 1940 – 8 November 2018) was a professor of chemistry who specialized in computational chemistry.

Biography

Harold Basch^{[1] [2]} was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York City. He obtained his B.A. from Yeshiva University (1962) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University (1966) under the supervision of Harry B. Gray.He did a postdoctoral research at Bell Telephone Laboratories (1966-1968) and was a principal research scientist atFord Motor Company (Dearborn, Michigan) (1968–1971). In 1970 he joined the chemistry department at Bar-Ilan University (BIU)^{[3] [4]} as an associate professor and became a full professor in 1977. He lived in Rehovot was married to Julia and had 5 children.

Administrative activities

His involvement in academic administration began early with an appointment as chairman of the department of chemistry at BIU (1973–1976). As an active member of the University's Senate, he served on and chaired many committees. Between the years 1988 and 1990, he served as the dean of the faculty of sciences and mathematics^[5] and held several tenures as a member of the executive board of the Senate.^[6] Among his others administrative activities, Basch served as the academic head of the Holon Institute of Technology (1978-1981), was a member of the Council for Higher Education in Israel (1985–1991), served on scientific grants committees of the Israel Science Foundation, was a member of the scientific board of the Israel Inter-University Computation Center, was appointed to the National Council for Research and Development (Prime Minister's Office)^[7] and was a member of the computer grants committee of The Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC).^[8] During the years 2005–2011, he served as the vice president for research at Bar-Ilan University.^{[9] [10] [11]}

Scientific activities

His main research interest was in the field of computational chemistry. Basch was a pioneer in computational quantum chemistry, in developing methods and innovative applications of theoretical concepts and equations to solving problems in chemistry.^[12] Already in 1962, as a beginning graduate student at Columbia University, he recognized the potential use of the computer (which then filled a whole building), in chemical research. The methods and paradigms he developed are used today in modern software packages for the calculation of molecular properties.^{[13] [14] [15]} The list of applications he has been involved in include electron, electronic and photoelectronic spectroscopies, energetics, geometric and electronic structures, chemical reaction paths, intermediates, and transition states, metal-ligand, metal-metal, metal cluster bonding, and active site reactions in metalloenzymes.^{[16] [17] [18] [19] [20]} The theoretical methods include single and multi-configuration molecular orbital theory, valence bond theory, and effective core and effective fragment potentials.His latest research efforts were directed towards finding appropriate molecular bridges that can serve as nano-conducting and switching elements in molecular electronics.

During his career, Basch published more than 180 papers and book chapters.^{[21] [22]}

External links

• Prof. Harold Basch's lecture, given during the conference "The Power to Detect and Create: Ethical Challenges Emerging from DNA Technology and Genetics - The Impact of Genetics on Jewish Living and Jewish Ethics", held jointly by Bar-Ilan University, The Center for Bioethics at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York.
• UM and Israel's Planned Medical School Begin Collaboration - Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami.
• Harold Basch: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg

Notes and References

1. Web site: Harold Basch, Bar-Ilan University . 2018-11-08 . 2017-07-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170717015510/http://ch.biu.ac.il/basch . dead .
2. https://www1.biu.ac.il/indexE.php?id=33&pt=20&pid=117&level=2&cPath=33&type=1&news=3240 Remembering Former Vice President for Research Prof. Harold Basch - Bar-Ilan University
3. https://ch.biu.ac.il/ Chemistry Department, BIU
4. https://research.biu.ac.il/departments/chemistry/ Faculty of Exact Sciences, Department of Chemistry - BIU
5. https://esc.biu.ac.il//en Faculty of Exact Sciences, BIU
6. https://www1.biu.ac.il/indexE.php?id=13697&pt=1&pid=6909&level=5&cPath=35,983,6909 University Senate, Bar-Ilan University
7. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/units/molmop National Council for Civilian Research and Development
8. https://che.org.il/en/the-planning-and-budgeting-committee/ The Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC)
9. https://research.biu.ac.il/team/ The Bar-Ilan University (BIU) Research Authority
10. https://www1.biu.ac.il/index.php?id=3&pt=20&cPath=3&type=1&news=1519 Bar-Ilan Office of the Spokesperson, November 2011
11. https://www1.biu.ac.il/indexE.php?id=33&pt=20&pid=4&level=1&cPath=4&type=1&news=1191 Bar-Ilan Office of the Spokesperson, November 2010
12. https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/38792628_Harold_Basch Harold Basch's research works - full list of publications
13. Book: Musaev. Djamaladdin G.. Computational Modeling of Homogeneous Catalysis. Basch. Harold. Morokuma. Keiji. The N≡N Triple Bond Activation by Transition Metal Complexes. 25. 2002. 325–361. 0920-4652. 10.1007/0-306-47718-1_13. Catalysis by Metal Complexes. 978-1-4020-0933-4.
14. Musaev. Djamaladdin G.. Basch. Harold. Morokuma. Keiji. Theoretical Study of the Mechanism of Alkane Hydroxylation and Ethylene Epoxidation Reactions Catalyzed by Diiron Bis-oxo Complexes. The Effect of Substrate Molecules. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 124. 15. 2002. 4135–4148. 0002-7863. 10.1021/ja0176393. 11942853.
15. Torrent. Maricel. Musaev. Djamaladdin G.. Basch. Harold. Morokuma. Keiji. Computational studies of reaction mechanisms of methane monooxygenase and ribonucleotide reductase. Journal of Computational Chemistry. 23. 1. 2002. 59–76. 0192-8651. 10.1002/jcc.1157. 11913390. 24420102.
16. Basch. Harold. Ratner. Mark A.. Binding at molecule/gold transport interfaces. I. Geometry and bonding. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 119. 22. 2003. 11926–11942. 0021-9606. 10.1063/1.1613941. 2003JChPh.11911926B.
17. Basch. Harold. Ratner. Mark A.. Binding at molecule/gold transport interfaces. II. Orbitals and density of states. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 119. 22. 2003. 11943–11950. 0021-9606. 10.1063/1.1613942. 2003JChPh.11911943B.
18. Basch. Harold. Ratner. Mark A.. Molecular binding at gold transport interfaces. III. Field dependence of electronic properties. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 120. 12. 2004. 5761–5770. 0021-9606. 10.1063/1.1650293. 15267455. 2004JChPh.120.5761B.
19. Basch. Harold. Ratner. Mark A.. Molecular binding at gold transport interfaces. IV. Thiol chemisorption. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 120. 12. 2004. 5771–5780. 0021-9606. 10.1063/1.1650294. 15267456. 2004JChPh.120.5771B.
20. Basch. Harold. Ratner. Mark A.. Binding at molecule/gold transport interfaces. V. Comparison of different metals and molecular bridges. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 123. 23. 2005. 234704. 0021-9606. 10.1063/1.1947747. 16392941. 2005JChPh.123w4704B.
21. Web site: Prof. Harold Basch - Research Authority, BIU . 2018-11-08 . 2018-11-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181109070719/https://research.biu.ac.il/researcher/professor-harold-basch/ . dead .
22. https://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/b/Basch:Harold dblp computer science bibliography