On February 25, 2021, Prof. Zdeněk Herman passed away. Prof. Herman was a visiting JILA Fellow from the Czech Republic once in 1980 and again in 2001. His contribution in the field of molecular dynamics and ion-molecule reactions was well recognized by the international community and rewarded by many prizes and awards on the national and international levels. He belonged to the founders of the rich tradition of molecular beams and ion-molecule reactions on the international level.
Since 2014 the Resonance Foundation awards "The Zdenek Herman Prize" for the best Ph.D. thesis in chemical physics and mass spectrometry. Since 2016 the international conference MOLEC (Dynamics of Molecular Systems) awards the "Zdenek Herman Young Scientist Prize," honoring Zdenek's legacy.
Besides his scientific achievements, he will be remembered among friends and colleagues especially for his many talents and kind personality. If he did not passionately pursue his scientific career, he could have probably make a great career in painting and sculpting. And he was very generous with sharing his art with friends and colleagues. There are many offices in scientific institutes around the world decorated with his paintings, drawings, and sculptures.
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.