The Russell Varian Prize was an international scientific prize awarded for a single, high-impact and innovative contribution in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), that laid the foundation for the development of new technologies in the field.[1] It honored the memory of Russell Varian, the pioneer behind the creation of the first commercial NMR spectrometer and the co-founder, in 1948, of Varian Associates, one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley.[2] The prize carried a monetary award of €15,000 and it was awarded annually between the years 2002 and 2015 (except for 2003) by a committee of experts in the field.[1] The award ceremony alternated between the European Magnetic Resonance (EUROMAR) Conference and the International Council on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS) Conference.[1] Originally, the prize was sponsored by Varian, Inc. and later by Agilent Technologies,[3] after the latter acquired Varian, Inc. in 2010.[4] The prize was discontinued in 2016 after Agilent Technologies closed its NMR division.[5]
Russell Varian Prize Awardees
- 2002 Jean Jeener.[6] Contribution: Multi-dimensional Fourier NMR spectroscopy. Jeener, J. (September 1971). Lecture. Ampère International Summer School II. Basko Polje, Yugoslavia.
- 2004 Erwin L. Hahn.[7] Contribution: Spin echo phenomena and experiments.[8]
- 2005 Nicolaas Bloembergen.[9] Contribution: Nuclear magnetic relaxation.[10]
- 2006 John S. Waugh.[11] Contribution: Average Hamiltonian theory.[12]
- 2007 Alfred G. Redfield.[1] Contribution: Relaxation Theory.[13]
- 2008 Alexander Pines.[14] Contribution: Cross-polarization method for NMR in solids.[15]
- 2009 Albert W. Overhauser.[16] Contribution: Nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE).[17]
- 2010 Martin Karplus.[1] Contribution: Karplus equation.[18]
- 2011 Gareth A. Morris.[19] Contribution: INEPT pulse sequence.[20]
- 2012 Ray Freeman and Weston A. Anderson.[1] Contribution: Double resonance.[21]
- 2013 Lucio Frydman.[1] Contribution: Ultrafast NMR.[22]
- 2014 Ad Bax.[23] Contribution: Homonuclear broad band decoupled absorption spectra.[24]
- 2015 Malcolm Levitt.[25] Contribution: Composite pulses.[26]