Prof. Dr. Rutger A. van Santen

Personals:

Rutger van Santen is full professor in Catalysis. He received his Ph.D. from Leiden University in 1971 with prof. L.J. Oosterhoff as supervisor. In 1971/72 he was a postdoctoral fellow at SRI, Menlo, California in the Molecular Physics Department. Next he joined the Koninklijke/Shell Laboratorium Amsterdam where he had several functions in catalysis research. In 1982/84 he was assigned to Shell Development Company in Houston, Texas. In 1986 he was appointed part-time professor in Surface Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology followed by the appointment as full Professor in Catalysis in 1988. His research interests are in the field of the molecular aspects of heterogeneous catalysis with the following three main themes: computational studies of surface-chemical reactivity, mechanism in heterogeneous catalysis and physical chemistry of catalyst synthesis. From 1990 until 2001 he was scientific director of the Schuit Institute of Catalysis in Eindhoven and from 1992 until 2000 the first scientific director of the Netherlands Graduate School of Catalysis Research NIOK. He is recipient of the gold medal of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (1981), the Ciapetta Lectureship of the North American Catalysis Association (1991) and the Bourke lectureship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1996), Spinoza award (1997, NWO) and the Alwin-Mittasch Medal (Dechema, 2001). In 2004 he was awarded Academy Professor of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2001 until 2005 he was chairman of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society and Arts and Rector Magnificus of the TU/e. In 2005 he became director of the Schuit Institute of Catalysis and scientific director of the National Research School Combination Catalysis Controlled by Chemical Design (NRSC-C).

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