Professor Hynes is well known in the field of theoretical chemistry for his contributions to the theory of chemical reaction rates and mechanisms. He has also made breakthroughs in the study of chemical reactions that are important in stratospheric ozone depletion. Hynes, who joined the CU-Boulder faculty in 1971, also holds the position of research director in the department of chemistry at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris— an arm of France’s National Center for Scientific Research— where many of France’s brightest students prepare for top-level careers in government and academia. He is author or co-author of more than 250 research articles and over 360 invited lectures and seminars. Among his many awards and recognitions are the 2004 Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry, the largest award in the field, for his contributions to the theory of chemical reactions rates and mechanisms and of vibrational dynamics in solution; the American Chemical Society’s Hildebrad Award in Theory and Experiment of Liquids; an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship; and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was also chosen as an American Physical Society Fellow, an honor bestowed to only a few select members of the organization, and he has twice been acknowledged as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher. His fine teaching was recognized by a Boulder Faculty Assembly Teaching Excellence Award. Wanting to share his excitement about chemistry, Hynes has participated in the university’s CU Wizards series, which is an annual program that provides students in grades 5 through 9 with an entertaining introduction to science.
