Kenneth Hedberg
Kenneth Wayne Hedberg (February 2, 1920 – January 5, 2019) was an American chemist known for studying how molecules are structured and how light interacts with them (molecular structure research and spectroscopy).
He was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in Portland and Hoquiam, Washington. He finished high school in Medford, Oregon, and earned his degree from Oregon State University. After working for Shell Development Company, he returned to school after World War II and earned a PhD at the California Institute of Technology in 1948, working with Linus Pauling and Verner Shoemaker.
Hedberg received prestigious fellowships, including Fulbright and Guggenheim, and later a Sloan Research Fellowship supported part of his research. While conducting research in Norway, he met Lise Smedvik, who became his wife, Lise Hedberg.
In 1956 the Hedbergs moved to the United States and joined the faculty at Oregon State University, where he taught until 1987. He was named a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. He also received an honorary doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Kenneth Hedberg died on January 5, 2019, at age 98.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:59 (CET).