Richard M. Noyes
Richard Macy Noyes (April 6, 1919 – November 25, 1997) was an American physical chemist known for studying how fast chemical reactions occur, especially reactions that change in cycles.
He was born in Champaign, Illinois, to chemist William Noyes and his wife Katherine Macy. His family included several relatives who were chemists, including his brothers Albert and Pierre.
Noyes studied at Harvard College and the California Institute of Technology. In 1959 he became a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon. His work focused on the kinetics of oscillating chemical reactions—reactions whose speed goes up and down over time.
Together with Richard J. Field and Endre Körös, he helped develop the FKN mechanism in 1972 to explain the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, a famous oscillating reaction. In 1976 he identified the mechanism of the Bray–Liebhafsky reaction.
Noyes earned many honors. He received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1955 and the Fulbright Research Fellowship in 1964. He was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Senior American Scientist Award in 1978 and 1979. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1977 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1989. Over his career he published about 190 scientific articles and served as an associate editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry. To honor his work, the Journal published a Festschrift on his 70th birthday. Richard M. Noyes died on November 25, 1997.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:28 (CET).