Nicholas C. Handy

British chemist (1941-2012)

FRS (1990)^[1]
Leverhulme Medal (2002)^[2]

Scientific careerFieldsQuantum ChemistryInstitutions

University of Cambridge
Johns Hopkins University^[3]

Doctoral advisorSamuel Francis Boys^[3]Doctoral students

Michael Bearpark
David Clary
Robert J. Harrison
Julia Rice

Websiteiaqms.org/deceased/handy.php

Nicholas Charles Handy FRS^[1] (17 June 1941 – 2 October 2012) was a British theoretical chemist.^[4]^[5] He retired as Professor of quantum chemistry at the University of Cambridge in September 2004.^[6]

Education and early life

Handy was born in Wiltshire, England and educated at Clayesmore School.^[7] He studied the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge^[3] and completed his PhD on theoretical chemistry supervised by Samuel Francis Boys.^[3]^[8]

Research

Handy wrote 320 scientific papers published in physical and theoretical chemistry journals.^[1]^[6]^[9] Handy developed several methods in quantum chemistry and theoretical spectroscopy. His contributions have helped greatly to the understanding of:

the transcorrelated method ^[10]
the long range behaviour of Hartree–Fock orbitals
semiclassical methods for vibrational energies
the variational method for rovibrational wave-functions (in normal mode and internal coordinates)
Full configuration interaction with Slater determinants (benchmark studies)
convergence of the Møller–Plesset series
the reaction path Hamiltonian
Anharmonic spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties using higher derivative methods
Brueckner-doubles theory^{[citation needed]}
Open shell Møller–Plesset theory
frequency-dependent properties
Density functional theory : quadrature, new functionals and molecular properties.

Awards and honours

Handy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1990.^[1] He was awarded the Leverhulme Medal in 2002^[2] and was a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.^[11]

Death

On 2 October 2012 Nicholas died after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Clary, David C.; Knowles, Peter J.; Tozer, David J. (2015). "Nicholas Charles Handy 17 June 1941 – 2 October 2012". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 61: 145–160. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2015.0002. ISSN 0080-4606.
^ ^a ^b "Leverhulme Medal". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Death of Professor Nicholas C. Handy, FRS". University of Cambridge. 8 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013.
^ Yanai, Takeshi; Tew, David P; Handy, Nicholas C (2004). "A new hybrid exchange–correlation functional using the Coulomb-attenuating method (CAM-B3LYP)". Chemical Physics Letters. 393 (1–3): 51–57. Bibcode:2004CPL...393...51Y. doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2004.06.011. ISSN 0009-2614.
^ "Handy - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Professor Nicholas Handy". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 28 February 2010.
^ ^a ^b Buckingham, David. "Nicholas Handy 1941–2012" (PDF). Retrieved 28 August 2016.
^ Coulson, C. A. (1973). "Samuel Francis Boys 1911-1972". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 19: 94–115. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1973.0004.
^ Nicholas C. Handy's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
^ Handy, Nicholas C. (1969). "Energies and Expectation Values for Be by the Transcorrelated Method". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 51 (8): 3205–3212. Bibcode:1969JChPh..51.3205H. doi:10.1063/1.1672496.
^ "Nicholas Handy at the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science page". Archived from the original on 12 August 2014.