Rossini Lectureship Award

Michael Frenkel, director of the Thermodynamics Research Center (TRC) in MML’s Thermophysical Properties Division, is the 2014 recipient of the Rossini Lectureship Award from the International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics (IACT). Frenkel will receive the award and deliver the Rossini Lecture at the opening of the 23rd International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics in Durban, South Africa, to be held July 27-Aug. 1, 2014. The texts of the Rossini lectures, given every two years, are published in Pure and Applied Chemistry and, with IUPAC permission, in the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics.

Frenkel was cited for his contributions to thermodynamics, including his leadership in (1), the development and the first implementation of the concept of global information systems in science in application to the field of thermodynamics; and (2), the establishment of new concepts and models for thermodynamic properties of dynamic chemical systems such as stereoisomers, conformers, tautomers, and plastic crystals based on experimental equilibria and calorimetric studies, as well as applications of statistical thermodynamics.

Under Frenkel’s leadership, a number of breakthrough software and database products have been developed at NIST. The NIST ThermoData Engine (TDE) represents the first software implementation of the dynamic data evaluation concept for thermophysical and themochemical properties.

The Rossini Lectureship Award is the premier award of the IACT and one of the most prestigious international awards in the field of thermodynamics. Frenkel is the first NIST recipient of the Rossini Award since 1975, when Frederick D. Rossini, who was the pioneering director of the TRC, was elected as the inaugural recipient of the award.