Prof Per Jensen

Born in Hjørring, Denmark, he studied chemistry and physics at Aarhus University, where he also received his doctorate in 1983 for work done at the National Research Council of Canada under the supervision of Philip Bunker. He then worked as a research associate at the University of Gießen, starting as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. At Gießen he was awarded the Franz Vogt Prize in 1992. In 1994 he moved to the Bergische University where he spent the rest of his scientific career, although he did have short duration guest professorships in Spain and Japan. His research focused on the development and application of methods for the simulation and analysis of the high-resolution spectra of small molecules. He is one of the founders of the field of computational molecular spectroscopy and his variational programs MORBID and RENNER, written in FORTRAN, paved the way for modern nuclear motion calculations from first principles. In 2002 Prof Jensen received the Sir Harold Thompson Memorial Award, together with T. E. Odaka, W. P. Kraemer, T. Hirano and P. R. Bunker for their work on the Renner effect in triatomic molecules. He was coauthor with Philip Bunker of two books on molecular symmetry and spectroscopy, and co-editor with Bunker of the book ‘Computational Molecular Spectroscopy'. Per Jensen was a dedicated participant over many years in the organisation of the biennial International Conference PRAHA on High Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy. In recognition of his contribution to the PRAHA conferences, and to molecular spectroscopy in general, he received the prestigious Johannes Marcus Marci Medal of the Czech Spectroscopic Society in 2008. Prof. Jensen was always concerned about communicating his science to students. To this end, he developed a widely used internet course on molecular symmetry. In addition, he was committed to the international networking of Bergische university. At the university he was Erasmus representative for the chemistry and biology department and country representative of the university for Japan and Korea. On his initiative, a cooperation was founded in 2001 between the Bergische University and the Ochanomizu University, one of the two state women's universities in Japan. For his commitment he received the Equal Opportunities Prize and the "World Lion" from the Bergische University. Many members of the spectroscopic community owe their scientific and academic careers to the Research Training Networks, SPHERS and QUASAAR, which he led in 2000-2009. Per Jensen was a wonderful colleague, friend and mentor. His expertise, advice and humour, coupled with a very modest demeanour, will be sorely missed.