We write with the very sad news that Ray Freeman died, aged 90, on 1st May.
Ray completed his DPhil at Oxford with Rex Richards in 1957. After postdoctoral work with Anatole Abragam at Saclay and at the National Physical Laboratory, he moved to the research department at Varian Associates in Palo Alto, then at the cutting edge of developments in NMR. He was to retain strong links with Varian until its takeover by Agilent and subsequent closure. In 1973 he took up his first academic post, at the University of Oxford, where he rose to be the Aldrichian Praelector before moving to Cambridge. Ray was the Plummer Professor at the University of Cambridge from 1987 until his retirement in 1999, but remained active in collaborative research long after that date, continuing to publish into his 80s.
He played a major part in the blossoming of NMR techniques and their chemical applications that followed the introduction of Fourier transform methods in 1972. His group in Oxford pioneered many new methods in 2D NMR, selective excitation and broadband decoupling, pulse sequence elements that are now part of every NMR spectroscopist’s toolkit and that are in daily use in every NMR laboratory. Ray was a superb communicator, and was often the star turn at NMR conferences - his presentations were characteristically littered with wry jokes and self-deprecating remarks, and illustrated by beautiful hand-drawn slides and cartoons. He was a wonderful mentor to his students, who remember with great fondness his warmth, humour and creativity. Many members of his group have gone on to achieve significant success in their own right, and all acknowledge Ray as a significant influence on their careers.
Ray was a gentleman scientist, somewhat of the old school, and a devoted family man. He will be greatly missed, but warmly remembered by all who had the privilege of working with him.
Gareth Morris (Manchester) James Keeler (Cambridge)
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