obituary
Acta Cryst. (2012). A68, 305–306
doi:10.1107/S0108767312004011
305
Acta Crystallographica Section A
Foundations of
Crystallography
ISSN 0108-7673
Herbert A. Hauptman (1917–2011)
Herbert Aaron Hauptman, an American mathematician and crystallographer, died on 23
October 2011 at the age of 94. He was a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
1985 for developing mathematical methods for deducing the molecular structures of
chemical compounds.
Herb was born in New York City, the oldest of three sons of Israel Hauptman – a
printer – and Leah (Rosenfeld) Hauptman, who was a sales clerk in the ladies’ hat
department of a prominent New York City department store. He credited his parents for
playing an integral role in his development as a scientist; they gave him the choice to
study whatever he wanted. In his Nobel autobiography, he said, ‘My interest in most areas
of science and mathematics began at an early age, as soon as I had learned to read, and
continues to this day.’ He also frequently said that the beauty of the Platonic solids was an
early inspiration.
He attended Townsend Harris High School, where his interest in science and mathe-
matics was nurtured, and then went on to the City College of New York where he
graduated in 1937, earning the Belden Medal as the top student in mathematics. He also
earned a master’s degree in mathematics at Columbia University in 1939.
On a blind double date in the fall of 1940, Herb found that he preferred his friend’s
date. Displaying the same drive that later led to his professional success, he quickly acted
on his emotions and, within a matter of weeks, married his young bride, Edith Citrynell,
an educator.
Shortly after he and Edith were married, Herb joined the legions of young American
men who were sent to serve in World War II. A Navy ensign, he was stationed in the
Southwest Pacific where he was trained as a weather forecaster. He was made a
permanent ‘officer of the day’ and was responsible for responding to a variety of crises.
While he only had one day of firefighter training, he also served as a Fire Marshall in the
Philippines – an assignment that twice nearly cost him his life. His time in the war was
marred with close calls and the constant presence of death and destruction. During his
war years, he spent his rare moments of spare time studying calculus (he brought the
book with him to the South Pacific) and solving mathematical problems. His wartime
experience was a constant memory throughout his life and led him, in future years, to
Image courtesy of Michael Mandolfo.
protest actively against American involvement in other mili-
tary actions, including the Vietnam War.
In 1947, he began working at the Naval Research Labora-
tory (NRL) in Washington, DC where he remained until 1970.
During his career there, he also earned his doctorate in
mathematics from the University of Maryland in 1955.
During his time at the NRL, he became fascinated with the
problem of how to directly determine molecular structures
through the methodology of X-ray crystallography, a problem
that had daunted other scientists for decades. Along with
Jerome Karle, he co-published a solution in 1953 in a book
entitled Solution of the Phase Problem I: The Centrosymmetric
Crystal. However, for many years other scientists were skep-
tical of this work and it was largely ignored. It was finally
accepted in the 1970s and received the recognition it deserved
with the award, in 1985, of a Nobel Prize which he shared with
Karle. During the last half-century, their techniques, known as
‘direct methods’, have been used to determine the three-
dimensional structures of thousands of molecules, many of
which have had medical significance.
In 1970, Herb joined the crystallographic group of a small,
non-profit biomedical research institute, the Medical Foun-
dation of Buffalo (MFB). In 1972, he became the MFB’s
Research Director and later its President. In 1994, the MFB
was renamed the Hauptman–Woodward Medical Research
Institute (HWI) to honor him as well as Helen Woodward-
Rivas, the philanthropist who provided the seed funds for the
Institute.
Not content to retire and relax after winning the Nobel
Prize, he collaborated with his Buffalo colleagues in the 1990s
and early 2000s to develop improvements to direct methods
that permitted them to be applied successfully to much larger
molecules.
During his years in Buffalo, he also served as Professor in
the Department of Structural Biology, the Department of
Biophysical Sciences, and as Distinguished Professor in the
Department of Computer Science at the University at Buffalo.
In addition, throughout his career he was a mentor to aspiring
crystallographers around the world, teaching at many Inter-
national Union of Crystallography (IUCr) computing schools
and Erice conferences, as well as at specialized meetings
dedicated to direct methods.
A member of the American Crystallographic Association
(ACA) and the US National Academy of Sciences, Herb
received many honorary degrees from colleges and univer-
sities throughout the world as well as numerous other awards.
Recent awards included an honorary degree from the State
University of New York at the 2009 commencement of the
University at Buffalo, the Niagara Lutheran Humanitarian
award for 2009 and membership in the inaugural class of ACA
Fellows.
He continued to work daily at the HWI into his nineties on
his own new research projects as well as serving as a mentor
and teacher to younger staff members.
Herb loved to hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia,
listen to classical music, and design and make stained glass
stellations of the Platonic solids. A permanent collection of
his beautiful artwork resides at the Institute that bears his
name.
He is survived by his wife, Edith, their daughters Barbara
Hauptman and Carol Fullerton, PhD, his brother Robert, and
many nieces and nephews.
Charles M. Weeks
Structural Biology Department,
Hauptman–Woodward Medical Research Institute,
700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-1102,
USA
obituary
306
Herbert A. Hauptman
Acta Cryst. (2012). A68, 305–306