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Death Notice

Richard E. Smalley

June 6, 1943 - October 28, 2005
Rice University
Houston, TX

Nobel laureate Richard Smalley, co-discoverer of the buckyball and one of the best-known and respected scientists in nanotechnology, died today in Houston after a long battle with cancer. He was 62. Smalley, who joined Rice University in 1976, shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with fellow Rice chemist Robert Curl and British chemist Sir Harold Kroto for the discovery of buckminsterfullerene, or buckyballs.

Published on 31 October 2005

Current comments and reminiscences on Smalley:

• The Smalley Group - Rice University
• Chemistry Nobel Laureate Smalley Dies ( Los Angeles Times)
• Nano visionary Richard Smalley dies (CNET)

I interviewed Rick Smalley in 1995 for my book To the Young Scientist: Reflections on Doing and Living Science (Franklin Watts, 1997) and found him to be genuinely interested in reaching out to my audience of adolescents and teens. My favorite quote from the interview was this surprise:

"I don’t think that most people thought I would amount to anything when I was a high schooler. Neither did I, frankly. . . . I never thought I would even get a job, let alone be a scientist, let alone [be] lucky enough to have been in areas that have had an impact so far beyond my expectations."

Dr. Fred Bortz
Monroeville, PA