Henry Taube

Chemist, born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan, Canada. He studied at the University of Saskatchewan (BS, MS), and went on to take his PhD in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (1940). He became a US citizen in 1942. While teaching at Cornell (1941–6), he worked during World War 2 at the National Defense Research Committee (1944–5), then taught at the University of Chicago (1946–61). In 1962 he joined the faculty of Stanford University, becoming the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Chemistry (1976, emeritus 1988). During his career he was the recipient of many of the highest awards his profession of inorganic chemistry offers, including the National Medal of Science (1977), the Welch Award (1983), and the Priestly Medal of the American Chemical Society (1985). He won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovering the basic mechanism of chemical reactions that lie behind everything from enzymes to batteries. He was specifically cited for his work in electron transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes - work that has applications in the chemical industry - but it was also noted that he had made at least 18 major discoveries in his field.

Professor Henry Taube, Ph.D , M.Sc , B.Sc , FRSC (November 30, 1915 – November 16, 2005) was a Canadian-born American chemist noted for having been awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "his work in the mechanisms of electron-transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes," otherwise referred to as inner-sphere electron transfer.

Taube was born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan and attended high school at Luther College in Regina. He received his B.Sc and M.Sc from the University of Saskatchewan in 1935 and 1937 respectively. He was a Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University, the University of Chicago and at Stanford University (1961–1986).

His Nobel-winning studies concerned the reactions in which some molecules grab electrons from other molecules, known as redox, a portmanteau word combining "reduction" and "oxidation."

He died in his home in Palo Alto, California on November 16, 2005