Old notices
These pages collect together notices posted on the IUCr web site in past years. They are retained for archival interest, but there is no guarantee (or likelihood) that many of the web links found in these notices will still be active.
Michael M. Woolfson (1927–2019)
![[Michael Woolfson]](https://www.iucr.org/__data/assets/image/0010/146872/mm_woolfson.png)
We are sad to report the death of Michael Woolfson (York University, UK) on 23 December 2019.
Professor Woolfson was awarded the 6th Ewald Prize at the 19th IUCr Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2002, for his exceptional contributions in developing the conceptual and theoretical framework of direct methods along with the algorithm design and computer programs for automatic solutions that changed the face of structural science and for his contributions to crystallographic education and international collaboration, which have strengthened the intellectual development of crystallographers worldwide. The automated direct-methods program MULTAN, developed by him in conjunction with Gabriel Germain and Peter Main, was first distributed in 1971 and, for many years, was the method of choice for the solution of most small noncentrosymmetric structures worldwide.
Professor Woolfson's commitment to crystallographic education and international collaboration is evidenced by his many IUCr roles. He served as Co-editor of Acta Cryst. from 1977 to 1980, having previously held the position of Book-Review Editor for Acta Cryst. Sections A and B and the Journal of Applied Crystallography from 1968 to 1975. He was elected onto the IUCr Executive Committee in 1981 for a three-year term, during which he served as the first Convener of the IUCr Finance Committee. He was also a member of the IUCr Commission on Crystallographic Computing (1972–1975), and published extensively in IUCr journals.
A full obituary will be published in due course.
