History and Stewardship

The American Conference on Theoretical Chemistry (ACTC) has been held about every three years for half a century in its current form. Its historical origin dates back to 1951 when Robert Mulliken chaired a theoretical chemistry meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences. ACTC meetings have served as an important venue for the discussion of new developments in theoretical chemistry and helped shape the field over the years. ACTC meetings continue to bring together the theoretical chemistry community to discuss the latest cutting-edge research and new development.

Under the chairpersonship of John Light, the theoretical chemistry meeting was formally organized as the American Conference on Theoretical Chemistry in 1981 (J. C. Light, J. Phys. Chem., 86, 2111 (1982)) as it continues to this day.

American Conference on Theoretical Chemistry 1981

John C. Light, Chairman
H. Fritz Schaefer, Vice-Chairman 

Ernest R. Davidson, Treasurer

Invited Speakers and Presentation Titles at the ACTC 1981

Bruce J. Berne (Columbia University). “Reaction Dynamics and Energy Transfer in a Simple Isomerization Reaction”.

Michael V. Berry (Bristol University). “Energy Levels and Quantum States in Integrable and Ergodic Systems”.

Joel M. Bowman (Illinois Institute of Technology). “Approximate Quantum Rate Constants and Cross Sections: New Approach to Some Old and New Problems”.

Duane Carter, Ian Hamilton, and Paul Brumer (University of Toronto). “Model Studies in Intramolecular Dynamics and Nonlinear Mechanics”.

John S. Dahler (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). “Kinetic Theory of Simple Dense Fluids”.

Marshall Fixman (Colorado State). “Perspectives on the Computer Simulation of Polymer Dynamics”.

Karl F. Freed (University of Chicago). “Is There a Bridge between Semiempirical and ab Initio Theories of Valence?”

Eric J. Heller (University of California, Los Angeles). “The Classical Way to Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics"

Uzi Kaldor (Tel Aviv). "A General-Model Space Diagrammatic Perturbation Theory"

Raymond Kapral, Mark Schell, and Simon Fraser (University of Toronto). “Chaos and Fluctuations in Non-linear Dissipative Systems”.

Donald J. Kouri (University of Houston). “Molecular Collision Approximations: Problems and Possible Ideas".

Vladimir Z. Kresin and William A. Lester, Jr. (University of California, Berkeley). “A New Adiabatic Approach to the Photodissociation of Polyatomic Molecules”.

Norman H. March (Oxford University). “Electron Density Theory of Atoms and Molecules”.

Rudolph A. Marcus (California Institute of Technology). “Intramolecular Dynamics and Energy Redistribution”.

Edward A. McCullough, Jr. (Utah State). “Numerical Solution of the Restricted and Multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock Equations for Diatomic Molecules”.

William H. Miller (University of California, Berkeley). “A Reaction Path Model for Polyatomic Reaction Dynamics: Tunneling, Vibrational Inelasticity, and Mode Specificity”.

James T. Muckerman (Brookhaven National Laboratories). “Use of Diatomics-in-Molecules (DIM) Potential Energy Surfaces in Dynamical Calculations of Reactive Molecular Collisions”.

Neil S. Ostlund (Carnegie Mellon University). “Computational Chemistry and Computer Science”. 

David W. Oxtoby (University of Chicago). “Vibrational Relaxation in Liquids: Non-Markovian Effects”. 

Philip Pechukas (Columbia University). “Kolmogorov Entropy and “Quantum Chaos””.
 

Herschel Rabitz (Princeton University). “Two New Integral Equations for Molecular Scattering”.

William P. Reinhardt (University of Colorado, Boulder). “Chaotic Classical Dynamics: Implications for Semiclassical Quantization and Intramolecular Energy Flow”. 

Stuart A. Rice (University of Chicago). “What Does the Study of Chaotic Motion Teach Us about Intramolecular Dynamics?”
 

Henry F. Schaefer, III (University of California, Berkeley).  “The Loop-Driven Graphical Unitary Group Approach to the Electron Correlation Problem: New Directions and Recent Applications”.

Donald G. Truhlar (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). “Theoretical Studies of Chemical Reaction Rates”.

Arieh Warshel (University of Southern California). “Molecular Dynamics of Light-Induced Reactions in Solutions and in Proteins”.

Peter G. Wolynes (University of Illinois, Urbana). “New Pathways in Liquid State Quantum Physics”.

Danny L. Yeager (Texas A&M University). “Newton- Raphson Approaches and Generalizations in Multiconfigurational Self-Consistent Field Calculations”.

Edward Hayes (National Science Foundation), Banquet Speaker.