CORNELL UNIVERSITY...MY EXPERIENCE

I, Michael Bucknum, attended Cornell University from Summer, 1990 to Fall, 1995. I was awarded a M.S. degree in 1992 and a PhD degree in 1996, both in chemistry. I was a teaching assistant-associate of undergraduate chemistry laboratories for 8 semesters. I took about 10 graduate courses spread over chemistry, geology and mathematics as part of the qualifying component of my degrees. Cornell University is in the larger Finger Lakes region of NYS. The campus and the surrounding areas are stunningly beautiful in all seasons but especially in the warm months when swimming in the lakes etc. is possible. I lived for a few years in Moravia...about 20 miles away from Cornell University and it was so beautiful there (in all seasons) that I had hoped when I lived there that I could stay there for the rest of my life. I intended to stay in Moravia for the rest of my life but circumstances forced me to move away. For people in chemistry and physics and related fields the Cornell synchrotron (called CHESS) makes Cornell University a top 20 University in the World. The additional resources of the Nanofabrication Facility and the Rhodes Theory Center also qualify Cornell University in the top 20 Universities in the World. The literature tradition at Cornell University...its literary history with some leading American authors is yet another qualifying mark that places Cornell University within the top 20 leading Universities in the World. Cornell University's dual status as a Private University-Land Grant University with its agricultural traditions is yet another unique aspect of Cornell University. There is much more to go in to but I leave it at this point.

F.H.T. RHODES

FHT Rhodes died on February 3, 2020. He was 93. FHT Rhodes was the 9th Cornell University President, from 1977-1995, in its 150 plus year history. FHT Rhodes was President of Cornell University when I was accepted for admission in to the graduate chemistry program at Cornell University in early 1990. Rhodes has written several learned books in the area of "Earth Science" and "Natural History". I have read parts of one of Rhodes' 400 plus page books on the history of life on Earth...but it was written at a very high level of naturalism that was not readily accessible to me as a chemist. In FHT Rhodes tenure as President of Cornell University he moved to create the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), on the campus of Cornell University, and the Rhodes Theory Center, that raised Cornell University's status to a top 20 in the World research university. He also initiated a billion dollar capital campaign to create a billion dollar plus Cornell University endowment. This billion dollar capital campaign was successfully executed and completed in Rhodes time in the Office of the Presidency at Cornell. I never have met Rhodes personally...but he may have spoken to me indirectly during the last month he was alive. The words I received in this indirect way were very frank and very supportive of me as one of his alumni.

MATRIX ALGEBRA and ORBITALS

Orbitals emerge from sophisticated algebraic manipulations of matrixes. "n": simultaneous linear equations in "n" unknowns are manipulated in the quantification and quantum mechanics of "n" orbitals. Once the LCAO orbitals are generated, then one can infer from them solutions to problems in chemical reactivity and bonding and conductivity. The orbitals emerge from simultaneous linear equations involving symmetry properties of molecules and extended structures...it is matrix algebra on a very large scale. And everything follows the rules laid down in Cotton's book for properties of acceptable wave functions. Extended Hueckel was the first such method of LCAO-MO's and LCAO-CO's.

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Here is a list of university libraries where I carried out research:

(1) Cornell University...many times

(2) University of Kentucky...many times

(3) Library of Congress...5-10 times

(4) University of Illinois...1-2 times

(5) Indiana University...10-20 times

(6) University of Georgia...20 plus times

(7) Emory University...5 plus times

(8) Georgia Tech...1 time

(9) Caltech...10-20 times

(10) UCLA...1 time

(11) UCSD...many times