Herbert Hauptman

Herbert A. Hauptman pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the entire field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in determination of molecular structures of crystallized materials. He graduated from City College of New York and obtained a master's in mathematics from Columbia in 1939. After World War II, he collaborated with Jerome Karle at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. The combination of mathematics and physical chemistry expertise enabled them to tackle the phase problem of X-ray crystallography. By 1955, Hauptman received his doctorate in mathematics, and they laid the foundations of the direct methods in X-ray crystallography. In 1970, he joined the Medical Foundation of Buffalo where he was Research Director. He authored over 170 publications. He currently serves as President of the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute. In 1985, Dr. Hauptman shared with Dr. Jerome Karle, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The next year, Dr. Herbert Hauptman addressed the student delegates at the 1986 Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C. about scientific research and discovery.