[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 143 (Wednesday, November 2, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S12230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO DR. RICHARD E. SMALLEY

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. 
Richard Errett Smalley of Rice University.
  On October 28, 2005, Texas and America lost a brilliant mind, a great 
American and a dear friend, Richard Smalley.
  Early in his life, Dr. Smalley developed a love for science as he 
collected single-cell organisms with his mother at a local pond and 
studied them with a microscope.
  He took this love of science with him to the University of Michigan 
where he graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry.
  After working at a Shell Chemical Company manufacturing plant in New 
Jersey for 4 years, Dr. Smalley continued his education at Princeton 
University, graduating with an M.S. in 1971 and his Ph.D. in 1973.
  He moved his family to Chicago to begin a postdoctoral period with 
Donald H. Levy at the University of Chicago.
  While there, Dr. Smalley's work began to elevate when he pioneered 
what has become one of the most powerful techniques in chemical 
physics, supersonic beam laser spectroscopy.
  In 1976, Dr. Smalley joined the Department of Chemistry at Rice 
University as an assistant professor, where he, along with his 
colleague, Dr. Robert F. Curl and British chemist Sir Harold Kroto, 
discovered a new class of carbon molecules called the fullerene, or 
``buckyballs.''
  This discovery led to the team's 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry, and 
spurred the development of nanotechnology as a revolutionary area of 
science capable of solving global problems in fields ranging from 
medicine to energy to national security.
  Dr. Smalley's accomplishments in the field of nanotechnology have 
greatly contributed to the academic and research communities of Rice 
University, the State of Texas, and the entire country.
  He, along with Nobel Laureate Michael Brown, was a founding 
cochairman of the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science, 
which has played an instrumental role in enhancing research in Texas.
  Dr. Smalley devoted his talent to employ nanotechnology to solve the 
world's energy problem, which he believed could ultimately solve other 
global problems such as hunger and lack of water.
  His devotion to science and its application to solving world issues 
earned him numerous honors and accolades, including the Distinguished 
Public Service Medal from the U.S. Department of the Navy and the 
Lifetime Achievement Award from Small Times Magazine.
  While Dr. Smalley may no longer be with us, his legacy will continue 
to grow as scientists build upon his work and all of us around the 
world reap the benefits of his discoveries.
  My condolences go out to his wife Deborah, two sons, Chad and 
Preston, and the rest of his family and friends.

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