Richard R.

Ernst
Richard Robert Ernst (14 August 1933 – 4 June
2021) was a Swiss physical chemist and Nobel Richard R. Ernst
laureate.[2]

Ernst was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in

1991 for his contributions towards the development of
Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
spectroscopy[3] while at Varian Associates and ETH
Zurich.[4][5][6][7][8] These underpin applications to both
to chemistry with NMR spectroscopy and to medicine
with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).[1]

He humbly referred to himself as a "tool-maker" rather

than a scientist.[9]

Early life
Ernst was born in Winterthur, Switzerland on 14 Ernst in the 1980s
August 1933[10] to Robert Ernst and Irma Ernst- Born Richard Robert Ernst
Brunner.[11] He was the oldest of three children of Irma 14 August 1933
Brunner and Robert Ernst. He grew up in a house built Winterthur, Switzerland
in 1898 by his grandfather, who was a merchant.[12]
Died 4 June 2021 (aged 87)
During his childhood, he was interested in music,
Winterthur, Switzerland
playing the violoncello and even considering a career
as a musical composer. At 13-years old, Ernst stumbled Alma mater ETH Zurich (PhD)
upon a box of chemicals belonging to his late uncle, a Known for Ernst angle
metallurgical engineer.[13] Young Ernst was excited by Fourier transform NMR
what he found, and set about trying all conceivable spectroscopy
reactions, some of which resulted in explosions that 2D NMR spectroscopy/Nuclear
terrified his parents.[9] Overhauser effect
spectroscopy/Exclusive
correlation spectroscopy
Education 3D NMR spectroscopy

He enrolled in the Eidgenössische Technische Awards Marcel Benoist Prize (1985)

Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich to study chemistry and Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1991)
received his diploma in 1957 as a “Diplomierter
Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1991)
Ingenieur Chemiker''.[14] He was disappointed in the
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (1991)
course content, so conducted further research and
taught himself quantum mechanics and ForMemRS (1993)[1]
thermodynamics in his spare time.[9] After a break to Scientific career
complete his military service, Ernst earned his Ph.D. in Fields Chemistry
physical chemistry in 1962[15] from ETH Zurich.[16]
Physics
His dissertation was on nuclear magnetic resonance in
the field of physical chemistry.[10] Institutions ETH Zurich
Varian Associates

Thesis Kernresonanz-Spektroskopie mit

Career stochastischen
Hochfrequenzfeldern ([Link]
Ernst entered Varian Associates as a scientist in 1963
[Link]/10.3929/ethz-a-00009176
and invented Fourier transform NMR, noise
4) (1962)
decoupling, and a number of other methods. He
Doctoral Hans H. Günthard
returned to ETH Zurich in 1968 and became a lecturer.
advisors Hans Primas
His career developed into assistant professor in 1970
and associate professor in 1972. From 1976, Richard Doctoral Marc Baldus
R. Ernst was Full Professor of Physical Chemistry.[17] students
Website [Link]/en/the-department
Ernst led a research group dedicated to magnetic /people/emeriti/emeriti-
resonance spectroscopy, and was the director of the homepages/[Link] (ht
Physical Chemistry Laboratory at the ETH Zurich. He tps://[Link]/en/the-depart
developed two-dimensional NMR and several novel ment/people/emeriti/emeriti-hom
pulse techniques. He retired in 1998. He participated in epages/[Link])
the development of medical magnetic resonance
tomography, as well as the NMR structure determination of biopolymers in solution collaborating with
Professor Kurt Wüthrich. He also participated in the study of intra-molecular dynamics.[17]

Awards and honours

Ernst was a foreign fellow of the Estonian Academy of Sciences
(elected 2002),[18] the US National Academy of Sciences, the
Royal Academy of Sciences, London, the German National
Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Russian Academy of
Sciences, the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and
Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.[19][20][21] He was elected a
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1993.[1] He
Richard R. Ernst, UNESCO 2011
was awarded the John Gamble Kirkwood Medal in 1989.[22]

In 1991, Ernst was on an aeroplane flying over the Atlantic when he discovered he had been awarded The
Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was invited into the cockpit, where he was given a radio to talk to the
Nobel committee. Here they told him he was being honoured "for his contributions to the development of
the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy".[9][23]

Ernst was a member of the World Knowledge Dialogue Scientific Board. He was awarded the Marcel
Benoist Prize in 1986, the Wolf Prize for Chemistry in 1991,[24] and Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of
Columbia University in 1991.[20][25] He was also awarded the Tadeus Reichstein Medal in 2000[26] and
the Order of the Star of Romania in 2004.[27] He also held Honorary Doctorates from the Technical
University of Munich, EPF Lausanne, University of Zurich, University Antwerpen, Babes-Bolyai
University, and University Montpellier.[20]

The 2009 Bel Air Film Festival featured the world premiere of a documentary film on Ernst Science Plus
Dharma Equals Social Responsibility. Produced by Carlo Burton, the film takes place in Ernst's
hometown in Switzerland.[28] In 2022, another movie about Richard R. Ernst premiered at the Cameo
cinema in Winterthur, produced by Lukas Schwarzenbacher and Susanne Schmid. The documentary
contains a retrospective of Richard R. Ernsts life, which was filmed only a few months before his
death.[29]

Personal life
Ernst was married to Magdalena until his death.[30] Together, they had three children: Anna Magdalena,
Katharina Elisabeth and Hans-Martin Walter.[10] Besides toiling with his work, Ernst also enjoyed music
and art, specifically Tibetan scroll art. Using scientific techniques, Ernst would research the pigments on
the scrolls to learn about their geographic origin and age.[11]

Ernst died on 4 June 2021 in Winterthur at the age of 87.[30][24]

Selected bibliography
Principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in One and Two Dimensions, Clarendon Press,
1987[31]
Richard R. Ernst: Nobelpreisträger aus Winterthur, Hier und Jetzt, Baden 2020
Alois Feusi: Richard Ernst: Der Selbstzweifler, dem der Nobelpreis peinlich war. Summary of
his autobiography. ([Link]
ioniert-die-medizin-ld.1556522) Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 21 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May
2020

References
1. "Professor Richard Ernst ForMemRS" ([Link]
s://[Link]/people/richard-ernst-11404/). London: Royal Society. Archived from the
original ([Link] on 11 October 2015.
2. Alger, J R (1992). "The 1991 Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to an MRI investigator".
Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography. 16 (1): 1–2. doi:10.1097/00004728-199201000-
00001 ([Link] PMID 1729287 ([Link]
[Link]/1729287).
3. Aue, W. P. (1976). "Two-dimensional spectroscopy. Application to nuclear magnetic
resonance". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 64 (5): 2229–2246.
Bibcode:1976JChPh..64.2229A ([Link]
doi:10.1063/1.432450 ([Link] ISSN 0021-9606 ([Link]
[Link]/issn/0021-9606). S2CID 10608225 ([Link]
D:10608225).
4. "Freeview video interview with Richard Ernst by the Vega Science Trust" ([Link]
[Link]/video/programme/21).
 5. "Interview with Professor Richard R. Ernst by Joanna Rose, science writer, 8 December
2001" ([Link]
6. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1991" ([Link]
ml).
7. "Ernst Autobiography at [Link]" ([Link]
es/1991/[Link]).
8. Ernst, Richard, R. "Richard R. Ernst" ([Link]
reates/1991/). [Link]. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
9. "Richard Ernst Obituary" ([Link]
j). The Times. 29 June 2021.
10. "Richard R. Ernst – Biographical" ([Link]
ographical/). Nobel Prize. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
11. Anthes, Emily (16 June 2021). "Richard R. Ernst Nobelist Who Paved Way for MRI Dies at
87" ([Link] New York
Times. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
12. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1991" ([Link]
t/biographical/). [Link]. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
13. "Insights from Notable Scientists" ([Link] Scientific
Research as a Career, CRC Press, pp. 95–114, 22 June 2011, doi:10.1201/b11013-11 (http
s://[Link]/10.1201%2Fb11013-11), ISBN 978-0-429-10525-8, retrieved 29 March 2021
14. [Link]
dept/department/images/Emeriti/richard_ernst/[Link]
15. Ernst, Richard R. (1962). Kernresonanz-Spektroskopie mit stochastischen
Hochfrequenzfeldern ([Link] (PhD thesis).
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. doi:10.3929/ethz-a-000091764 ([Link]
rg/10.3929%2Fethz-a-000091764). hdl:20.500.11850/133369 ([Link]
11850%2F133369).
16. Prof. Dr. Richard R. Ernst ([Link] ETH Zurich
Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences,
[Link] (Retrieved 18 April 2016)
17. "Prof. Dr. Richard R. Ernst" ([Link]
omepages/[Link]). [Link]. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
18. "Estonian Academy of Sciences, Membership" ([Link]
1/[Link] Archived from the original ([Link]
[Link]/en/membership/abc/) on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
19. List of Fellows of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences ([Link]
[Link]) Archived ([Link]
st-of-fellows/[Link]) 15 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
20. "Richard R. Ernst" ([Link]
7). Retrieved 10 June 2021.
21. Rooney, Terrie M. (1998). Contemporary authors. V. 158. Peacock, Scot. Detroit: Gale.
p. 114. ISBN 0-7876-1185-9. OCLC 37926306 ([Link]
22. "Kirkwood Award" ([Link] ACS New Haven.
Retrieved 17 January 2020.
23. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1991". [Link]. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 10
November 2015. <[Link]
24. "Richard Ernst, father of the MRI, dies aged 87" ([Link]
-father-of-the-mri--dies-aged-87/46687642). Swissinfo. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
25. "The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize" ([Link]
11 November 2022.
26. "Reichstein Medal | Swiss Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences SAPhS" ([Link]
[Link]/en/awards/reichstein-medal). [Link]. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
27. "DECRET 18 16/01/2004 – Portal Legislativ" ([Link]
49281).
28. "Film Festival Ticker" ([Link]
m/festivalticker/2009/10/2nd-annual-bel-air-film-festival-announces-line-up-and-honorees/).
Archived from the original ([Link]
film-festival-announces-line-up-and-honorees/) on 11 November 2009.
29. "Lebensbilanz von Nobelpreisträger auf Film festgehalten" ([Link]
20131191643/[Link]
lten). 84XO (in German). Archived from the original ([Link]
s-nobelpreistraegers-filmisch-festgehalten) on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
30. "Nobel-winning MRI pioneer Richard Ernst dies" ([Link]
nobel-winning-mri-pioneer-richard-ernst-dies). The Straits Times. Singapore. Agence
France-Presse. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
31. Ernst, Richard R. (1987). Principles of nuclear magnetic resonance in one and two
dimensions. Bodenhausen, Geoffrey., Wokaun, Alexander. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Clarendon
Press. ISBN 0-19-855629-2. OCLC 12804280 ([Link]

External links
Richard R. Ernst ([Link] on [Link]

Retrieved from "[Link]