This scholarship was established by the leadership of University of Illinois Professor Emeritus Cliff Dykstra to honor Professor Herbert S. Gutowsky.
Herbert Sander Gutowsky was a pioneer in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, showing how this technique could be used as an important experimental tool for studying the structure and dynamics of molecules in solids, liquids, and gasses. He was the first chemist to apply the NMR method to chemical research, and his investigations into the principles of NMR and its uses had a monumental effect on virtually all scientific investigations requiring the analysis of molecular structure. In short, Gutowsky’s breakthrough discoveries made NMR one of the most important spectroscopic tools in chemical and biochemical research.
Gutowsky became head of the Department of Chemistry at Illinois in 1967, and in 1970 he oversaw the creation of the School of Chemical Sciences, which included the departments of chemistry and chemical engineering. He served as Director of SCS from 1970 to 1983. Gutowsky’s many achievements were recognized by his election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He was also elected a fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.