Record

Authorised form of namePines; Alexander (1945-2024); chemist
Dates1945-2024
NationalityAmerican
Place of birthTel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine, West Asia
Date of birth22 June 1945
Place of deathUSA
Date of death1 November 2024
OccupationChemist
Research fieldSpectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Chemistry
ActivityEducation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem B.Sc. 1967; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D 1968-1972
Career:
Grew up in in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); joined the University of California Berkeley Faculty (1972); became Associate Professor (1975); then Professor (1980); then Glenn T Seaborg Chair of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, USA (1980s to 2024).
Awards/Medals:
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards 1976
Bourke Award 1988
Guggenheim Fellowship 1988
Wolf Prize in Chemistry 1991
Centenary Prize 1993
Irving Langmuir Award 1998
Dickson Prize 2001
Glenn T. Seaborg Medal 2003
Faraday Lectureship 2004
Russell Varian Prize 2008
Membership categoryForeign Member
Date of election13/05/2002
RelationshipsParents: His father was a chess player and his mother a musician
OtherInfoHelped to develop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy - a technique for revealing molecular structure and organisation based on the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei - into a powerful tool for studying solid materials. The methods he pioneered found widespread application in fields such as biomedicine, chemistry, and materials science.
Made significant developments in multiple-quantum spectroscopy, zero-field NMR and cross-polarisation. Alongside his research, Alexander was highly regarded as an educator and was presented with the Distinguished Teaching Award of UC Berkeley.
SourceThe Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Alexander Pines FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/alexander-pines-12100/; last accessed: 12/11/2025]
Alex Pines personal website, [URL: https://pines.berkeley.edu/people/alex-pines; last accessed: 12/11/2025]
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry, Alexander Pines: A legacy of scientific innovation and generosity, Sarah C. P. Williams, 16 June 2025, [URL: https://chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/alexander-pines-legacy-scientific-innovation-and-generosity; last accessed: 12/11/2025]
Science Advances, Vol 11, Issue 7, Alexander Pines and the end of an era,Warren S. Warren, 12 February 2025 [URL: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw3504; last accessed: 12/11/2025]
CodeNA8497
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/2002/46Pines, Alexander: certificate of election to the Royal Society
IM/003590Pines, Alexander2002
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