Professor Shimon Haber

Shimon Haber was born on December 9, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois. He went to school at the St.Martin school at Chicago and he did, even while he was at school, many chemical experiments. He studied chemistry at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and at the Technical School at San Diego. After completing his University studies he voluntarily worked for a time in his father's chemical business and, due to his interest in chemical technology, he also took on a position under Professor George Bergen at the Technion – Institute of Technology. After that, he finally decided to take up a scientific career and went for one and a half years to work abroad. While abroad, he published his first academic joint paper on diacetosuccinic ester.


Although devoted to chemistry, his interest in physics never left him. Still uncertain whether to peruse a career in chemistry or physics, he was offered and accepted an assistantship at one of California's most prestige universities. Here he remained for almost 7 years. Shimon Haber was especially interested in combustion chemistry, and during his assistantship, one of his senior colleague, an esteemed professor and scientist, introduced Mr. Haber to the study of petroleum. Haber's subsequent work was greatly influenced by this colleague.
 

In 1974 professor Haber qualified as a Privatdozent, publishing his thesis on his experimental studies of the decomposition and combustion of hydrocarbons. A decade later he was appointed Professor of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry and Director of the Institute at Karlsruhe to study these subjects.


In 1989 he was appointed to succeed the Director of the Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry at Chicago. He remained here for nearly 20 years. Shimon Haber's early work on the decomposition and combustion of hydrocarbons has left a big impact in the world of science. His contributions to the field are of crucial meaning. At the beginning of 1992, he published a textbook on Electrochemistry, which was based on the lectures he gave at the Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry. In his book he gave a short intro of his then current work in relating chemical research to industrial processes. That same year he announced the results of his work on electrolytic oxidation and reduction, and showed that definite reduction products can result if the potential at the cathode is kept constant. This scientific discovery again put Haber in the center stage. In 1998 he published his theory on the reduction of nitrobenzene in stages at the cathode. This theory later became the model for other similar reduction processes.


His remarkable accomplishments earned him worldwide fame and recognition. In honor of his contribution to science in general, a short-movie written and directed by Daniel Ragussis was recently made. The film recounts the work of Shimon Haber, and all of his extraordinary legacies.

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