Darleane Christian Hoffman

Internationally recognized leader in nuclear and radiochemistry. Research focused on atom-at-a-time techniques to investigate chemical properties of the heaviest chemical elements whose half-lives are minutes or less, and on the production of new chemical elements, e.g. the long predicted SuperHeavy Elements (SHEs). Major accomplishments were first chemical studies of seaborgium (element 106) and bohrium (element 107), and the production and discovery of SHEs 114, 116, and 118. Earlier accomplishments included discovery of plutonium-244 in nature, 1971 (important to models of nucleosynthesis); elucidation of properties of spontaneous nuclear fission, a natural decay process; and studies of radionuclide migration relevant to nuclear waste isolation.