Revaz Dogonadze: Encyclopedia II - Revaz Dogonadze - Life and works

Revaz Dogonadze - Life and works

In 1955 Revaz Dogonadze graduated from the Moscow Physics-Engineering Institute. In 1958-1978 he was Scientific Fellow (1958-1962) and Senior Scientific Fellow - Head of the Group of Quantum Electrochemistry (1962-1978) of the Department of Theoretical Investigations of the Moscow Institute of Electrochemistry (now Frumkin Institute of Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Science). In 1963-1973 Associate Professor (1963-1969) and Professor (1969-1973) of the Moscow State University. In 1961 he received a PhD degree, in 1966 a degree of Doctor of Sciences (Full Doctor).

Dogonadze was the first to view a chemical electron-transfer process in a specific way, i.e. as a quantum-mechanical transition between two separate electronic states, induced by weak electrostatic interactions between the molecular entities represented by the states (1959-1961). In the 1960s-1970s he managed a group in the Theoretical Department of the Moscow Institute of Electrochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of former Soviet Union (now Russian Academy of Science). Students from the Moscow State University and the Moscow Physics-Engineering Institute, with which Dogonadze had become associated in 1969, increasingly gathered around him, and foreign scientists became attracted to him. Some pupils of Dogonadze are today internationally known scientists. Work of this group through the 1970s dealt with the relation between electron transfer and other condensed phase electronic processes such as light absorption; it dealt with processes involving three rather than two electronic levels, with low-temperature processes and with particular features characteristic of biological processes. These investigations often involved new methods of theoretical physics.

The first quantum-mechanical model of proton transfer in polar solvents taking into account the dynamic role of the polar solvent was suggested by Dogonadze and his pupils in 1967. In the 1970s-1980s was created a well-known Quantum-Mechanical Theory of Kinetics of the Elementary Act of Chemical, Electrochemical and Biochemical Processes in Polar Liquids. The Quantum-Mechanical Theory of Kinetiks of Atomic-Molecular Transformation in Condensed Media was developed by Dogonadze, Kuznetsov, Ulstrup, Zaqaraya and Marsagishvili (1973-1979).

In 1978 Dogonadze founded the Department of Theoretical Investigations of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS). In 1978-1985 he was Head of this Department. In 1982-1985 he was also Head of the Department of General and Theoretical Physics of the Georgian Technical University. In 1982 Dogonadze was elected Corresponding Member of GAS. In 1978-1985 he was Chairman of the Department of Electrochemical Physics of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE). He was also member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry and the Editorial Board of the Russian Journal Elektrokhimia.

Dogonadze was the main author of Quantum-Mechanical Theory of Kinetics of the Elementary Act of Chemical, Electrochemical and Biochemical Processes. He was founder of the scientific school of quantum electrochemistry. He was also co-author of Quantum-Mechanical Model of Enzyme Catalysis.

In 1971-1972 Dogonadze was one of organizers of the International Summer School of Quantum Electrochemistry in Ohrid (Jugoslavia). He was also a Chairman of the International Advisory Committee of the International Conference "Non-Traditional approaches to the study of the Solid-Electrolyte Interface" (September 24-27, 1979, Snowmass, Colorado, USA).

In 1984 Dogonadze was a main organizer of the International Conference "Electrodynamics and Quantum Phenomena at Interfaces" (October 1-6, 1984, Telavi, Georgia).

Dogonadze was author about 190 scientific-research works (among them 7 monographs). Under Dogonadze's guidance were prepared about 20 theses (13 PhD's and 5 Dr.Sci.). He was co-editor and co-author of a three-volume collective monograph The Chemical Physics of Solvation (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1985-1986).

Revaz Dogonadze's final major undertaking, witnessed by an international audience, was the organization of the International Conference "Electrodynamics and Quantum Phenomena at Interfaces" (October 1-6, 1984, Telavi, Georgia), which was an important event in electrochemical physics.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Life and works", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki