Rate My Professor Leo Radom

Radom's research in computational quantum chemistry has focused on molecular structures, thermochemistry, gas-phase ion chemistry, radical systems, substituent effects, and enzyme mechanisms, particularly coenzyme B12-mediated rearrangements. He pioneered concepts such as isodesmic reactions for thermochemical accuracy and distonic radical cations, and developed methods like G3-RAD and ROCBS-QB3 for radical thermochemistry. He has authored approximately 540 publications, achieving an h-index of 89 and over 39,000 citations as of 2019. Notable contributions include the book 'Ab Initio Molecular Orbital Theory' (1986, with Hehre, Schleyer, and Pople) and a highly cited 1996 paper on frequency scaling procedures (over 6,000 citations). His impact is evident in leadership roles, including President of the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (2005-2011), Asia-Pacific Association (2012-2019), and founding president of the Australian Association. Awards include Companion of the Order of Australia (2019), Australian Academy of Science Fellowship (1988), Schrödinger Medal (1994), Fukui Medal (2006), David Craig Medal (2008), RACI Distinguished Fellowship (2018), and Leighton Memorial Medal (2019). He has served on editorial boards of journals such as Journal of Computational Chemistry and Chemical Physics Letters.