Russell Varian Prize Explained

The Russell Varian Prize was an international scientific prize awarded for a single, high-impact and innovative contribution in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), that laid the foundation for the development of new technologies in the field.^[1] It honored the memory of Russell Varian, the pioneer behind the creation of the first commercial NMR spectrometer and the co-founder, in 1948, of Varian Associates, one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley.^[2] The prize carried a monetary award of €15,000 and it was awarded annually between the years 2002 and 2015 (except for 2003) by a committee of experts in the field. The award ceremony alternated between the European Magnetic Resonance (EUROMAR) Conference and the International Council on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS) Conference. Originally, the prize was sponsored by Varian, Inc. and later by Agilent Technologies,^[3] after the latter acquired Varian, Inc. in 2010.^[4] The prize was discontinued in 2016 after Agilent Technologies closed its NMR division.^[5]

Russell Varian Prize Awardees

• 2002 Jean Jeener.^[6] Contribution: Multi-dimensional Fourier NMR spectroscopy. Jeener . J. . September 1971 . Basko Polje, Yugoslavia . Lecture . Ampère International Summer School II.
• 2004 Erwin L. Hahn.^[7] Contribution: Spin echo phenomena and experiments.^[8]
• 2005 Nicolaas Bloembergen.^[9] Contribution: Nuclear magnetic relaxation.^[10]
• 2006 John S. Waugh.^[11] Contribution: Average Hamiltonian theory.^[12]
• 2007 Alfred G. Redfield. Contribution: Relaxation Theory.^[13]
• 2008 Alexander Pines.^[14] Contribution: Cross-polarization method for NMR in solids.^[15]
• 2009 Albert W. Overhauser.^[16] Contribution: Nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE).^[17]
• 2010 Martin Karplus.^[1] Contribution: Karplus equation.^[18]
• 2011 Gareth A. Morris.^[19] Contribution: INEPT pulse sequence.^[20]
• 2012 Ray Freeman and Weston A. Anderson. Contribution: Double resonance.^[21]
• 2013 Lucio Frydman. Contribution: Ultrafast NMR.^[22]
• 2014 Ad Bax.^[23] Contribution: Homonuclear broad band decoupled absorption spectra.^[24]
• 2015 Malcolm Levitt.^[25] Contribution: Composite pulses.^[26]

See also

• List of physics awards

Notes and References

1. Book: The Russel Varian Prize and Lecture . Elsevier . Journal of Magnetic Resonance . 12 December 2017.
2. Web site: Guide to the Varian, Inc. Records . Stanford University Libraries . Online Archive of California . 12 December 2017.
3. Web site: The Russel Varian Prize 2007 . EUROMAR . EUROMAR 2006 . 12 December 2017 . 28 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080828065550/http://www.euromar.org/york/Russell-Varian-Prize.html . dead .
4. Web site: Agilent Completes Varian Acquisition . GenomeWeb . 17 May 2010 . 17 December 2017.
5. Reisch . M.S. . 2014 . Agilent to Exit NMR Business . Chemical & Engineering News . 92 . 42 . 11 . 17 December 2017 . 10.1021/cen-09242-notw9 .
6. Web site: Russel Varian Prize 2002 . EUROMAR . EUROMAR Conference 2006 . 13 December 2017 . 30 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330231004/http://www.euromar.org/york/laudatio2002.html . dead .
7. Web site: Russel Varian Prize 2004 . EUROMAR . EUROMAR Conference 2006 . 13 December 2017.
8. Hahn . E.L. . 1950 . Spin Echoes . Physical Review . 80 . 4 . 580–594 . 10.1103/PhysRev.80.580 . 1950PhRv...80..580H . 46554313 .
9. Web site: Russel Varian Prize 2005 . EUROMAR . EUROMAR Conference 2006 . 13 December 2017.
10. Bloembergen . N. . Purcell . E.M. . Pound . R.V. . 1947 . Nuclear Magnetic Relaxation . Nature . 160 . 4066 . 475–476 . 10.1038/160475a0 . 20265559 . 14 December 2017 . 1947Natur.160..475B . 1874/7413 . 4002836 . free .
11. Web site: Russel Varian Prize 2006 . EUROMAR . EUROMAR Conference 2006 . 13 December 2017.
12. Waugh . J.S. . Wang . C.H. . Huber . L.M. . Vold . R.L. . 1968 . Multiple-Pulse NMR Experiments . Journal of Chemical Physics . 48 . 2 . 662–670 . 10.1063/1.1668698 . 1968JChPh..48..662W . free .
13. Redfield . A.G. . 1957 . On the Theory of Relaxation Processes . IBM Journal of Research and Development . 1 . 19–31 . 10.1147/rd.11.0019 .
14. Web site: 2008 Russell Varian Prize to Alex Pines . Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory News Center . PinesLab . 13 December 2017.
15. Pines . A. . Gibby . M.G. . Waugh . J.S. . 1972 . Proton-Enhanced Nuclear Induction Spectroscopy . Journal of Chemical Physics . 56 . 4 . 1776–1777 . 10.1063/1.1677439 . 1972JChPh..56.1776P . 95376682 .
16. Web site: Russell Varian Prize 2009 Laureate . EUROMAR . 13 December 2017.
17. Overhauser . A.W. . 1953 . Polarization of Nuclei in Metals . Physical Review . 92 . 2 . 411–415 . 10.1103/PhysRev.92.411 . 1953PhRv...92..411O .
18. Karplus . M. . 1959 . Contact Electron-Spin Coupling of Nuclear Magnetic Moments . Journal of Chemical Physics . 30 . 1 . 11–15 . 10.1063/1.1729860 . 1959JChPh..30...11K .
19. Web site: Announcement of the Russell Varian Prize 2011 . EUROMAR . 13 December 2017.
20. Morris . G.A. . 1979 . Enhancement of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Signals by Polarization Transfer . Journal of the American Chemical Society . 101 . 3 . 760–762 . 10.1021/ja00497a058 .
21. Freeman . R. . Anderson . W.A. . 1962 . Use of Weak Perturbing Radio-Frequency Fields in Nuclear Magnetic Double Resonance . Journal of Chemical Physics . 37 . 9 . 2053–2074 . 10.1063/1.1733426 . 1962JChPh..37.2053F .
22. Frydman . L. . Scherf . T. . Lupulescu . A. . 2002 . The Acquisition of Multidimensional NMR Spectra within a Single Scan . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA . 99 . 25 . 15858–15862 . 10.1073/pnas.252644399 . 12461169 . 2002PNAS...9915858F . 138528 . free .
23. Web site: The Russell Varian Lecture and Prize . EUROMAR . 13 December 2017.
24. Bax . A. . Mehlkopf . A.F. . Smidt . J. . 1979 . Homonuclear Broadband Decoupled Absorption Spectra . Journal of Magnetic Resonance . 35 . 1 . 167–169 . 10.1016/0022-2364(79)90088-X . 1979JMagR..35..167B . 10.1.1.703.5487 .
25. Web site: Major international honour for Professor of Physical Chemistry . University of Southampton . 13 December 2017.
26. Levitt . M.H. . Freeman . R. . 1979 . NMR Population Inversion Using a Composite Pulse . Journal of Magnetic Resonance . 33 . 2 . 473–476 . 10.1016/0022-2364(79)90265-8 . 1979JMagR..33..473L .