Quantum Chemistry (Third Edition)

Ajit Thakkar was born in India in the year that she promulgated her constitution and became a republic. Ajit left home at 17 to explore the West. A circuitous, bumpy, and year-long journey led him to Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. He enrolled in and followed an engineering degree program for two years but a life-altering summer job as a research assistant to a theoretical chemist motivated him to switch to chemistry. He earned his theoretical chemistry PhD in 1976. After four post-doctoral years, he began an independent academic career at the University of Waterloo. Another four years later, he moved to the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton where he remains. He is currently a Professor Emeritus. Several academic awards and honors have come his way over the years for his nearly 300 published research papers on the theoretical and computational prediction of molecular properties and interactions. More than twenty of his former research students now hold university positions in countries ranging from Namibia to the USA. His service to the scientific community includes a longish period (2007–21) as the Editor of a journal that changed name from Journal of Molecular Structure (THEOCHEM) to Computational and Theoretical Chemistry during his tenure. He remains associated with the journal as an Editor Emeritus. He now has more time to pursue his other passions: travel, photography, philosophy, and grandchildren.