Agilent Technologies Awards Russell Varian Prize for Innovation in NMR to Dr. Lucio Frydman

Agilent Technologies Inc. today announced that the 2013 Russell Varian Prize for Innovation in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance has been awarded to Dr. Lucio Frydman, professor and Kimmel Fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Dr. Frydman’s seminal paper, “The Acquisition of Multidimensional NMR Spectra within a Single Scan,” introduces a unique technique for recording multidimensional NMR spectra in a single scan, and describes the theoretical basis and experimental realization of this ultrafast NMR methodology.

The paper is based on an idea by Dr. Frydman and the contributions of two additional authors. It was published in 2002 in PNAS—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

“We are very pleased to present the prize to Dr. Frydman, who has been a key innovator for NMR methodology for both solution and solid-state NMR,” said Regina Schuck, Ph.D., general manager of Agilent’s Research Products Division.

“Dr. Frydman’s ultrafast NMR technique significantly expands NMR methodology for the study of fast processes, including chemical reactions, biochemical pathways and protein folding, which are inaccessible on the time scale of conventional multidimensional NMR methods or by other biophysical methods.”

“Receiving this accolade was particularly moving, for multiple converging reasons,” said Dr. Frydman. “On one hand there is the personality of Russell Varian: as entrepreneur, as scientist, as a human being—in all senses, a true ‘mensch.’ In addition there is the outstanding roster of previous awardees, which includes some of the most distinguished founders and developers of what magnetic resonance has become today. Overall, an inspiring honor.”

The Russell Varian Prize for Innovation in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance honors the memory of the pioneer behind the first commercial nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers and cofounder of Varian Associates, which is now part of Agilent. The prize is awarded to researchers based on a single innovative contribution (a single paper, patent, lecture or piece of hardware) that has demonstrated broad impact on the state of the art in NMR and original contributions that have triggered important advancements in scientific technology.