2013 Seaborg Award: Richard G. Haire

Haire earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and his doctorate in chemistry from Michigan State University. He joined ORNL in 1966, led the laboratory’s transuranium chemistry group and served as a full adjunct professor of chemistry at the University of Tennessee.

Known for his forefront, fundamental studies of the actinide family of elements, Haire, while at ORNL, concentrated on the transplutonium elements produced in the U.S. Department of Energy research reactor, the High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR. He developed novel experimental techniques and emphasized the use of systematic comparisons, which focused on the role of electron configurations in the chemistry and physics of these elements.

“We are extremely pleased that the American Chemical Society has recognized Richard Haire’s valuable contributions to our knowledge of actinide chemistry with this prestigious award,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said.

Haire is one of a very few who has done research on the solid-state forms of the elements einsteinium and fermium, which are at the far end of the periodic table and obtainable in appreciable quantities only from research reactors such as HFIR.