Fankuchen award to Stewart

James McDonald Stewart is the 2001 recipient of the Fankuchen Memorial Award, which recognized an outstanding crystallographer who is known to be an effective teacher of crystallography. Jim had a distinguished teaching and research career at the U. of Maryland. His career spanned the era in which the way that crystal structures were solved underwent a profound change. As the major developer of the XRAY and XTAL crystallographic software packages, Jim was an outstanding innovator in large-scale computing techniques. His software packages were benchmarks for crystallographic computing and data standards, and influenced the design of software in other scientific disciplines including computational chemistry. He was a leader in the implementation of computer applications to all aspects of crystallographic research - from powder to proteins. He popularized computational approaches through his contributions to the ACA and IUCr teaching and computing schools. He was the quintessential teacher: well-informed, intellectually curious, clear in his explanations, patient with students, and inspiring to young scientists. His zest for his subject was communicated in every interaction, whether it was an explanation of space groups, the mechanics of a fast Fourier transform, or the arcana of data structures that would be transportable across computing platforms. By creating the first comprehensive, transportable, and integrated system of crystallographic programs (The XRAY System), he revolutionized the field of crystallography. With a 'user friendly' system with one program flowing smoothly to the next, the crystallographers could solve a broad spectrum of structures from start to finish. Jim Stewart's immense lifetime contributions to the development and teaching of computing methodologies have played a major part in the success and prominence that crystallography holds in science. His educational influence has reached far beyond the conventional classrooms. The Fankuchen Memorial Award, an appropriate recognition for these most important contributions, will be presented to Jim Stewart at the ACA meeting in Los Angeles, July 21-26, 2001.

Students, Colleagues and Friends of Jim Stewart