John D. Roberts

Who is John D. Roberts?

John Dombrowski Roberts is an American chemist. He has made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates. Another characteristic of Roberts' work was the early use of NMR, the concept of spin-spin coupling.

Roberts received both a B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has held several positions at the California Institute of Technology, including Division Chairman of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from 1963–68, Dean of the Faculty and Provost from 1980–83 and is currently Institute Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He is credited with bringing the first female graduate student, Dorothy Semenow, to Caltech when he moved from MIT. He was a consultant for DuPont Central Research.

He published his autobiography in 1990, The Right Place at the Right Time.