William E. Moffitt (9 November 1925 – 19 December 1958[ 1] ) was a British quantum chemist. He died after a heart attack following a squash match.[ 2] He had been thought to be one of Britain's most gifted academics.[ 3]
Moffitt was born in Berlin, Germany to British parents; his father was working in Berlin on behalf of the British government.[ 3] He was educated by private tuition up to the age of 11.[ 3] He attended Harrow School from 1936–43. His chemistry master later said of him that "he was undoubtably the most able of a decade of gifted boys ... [and] has a profound effect on all who met him. He did more than anyone to create in the school the intellectual climate so necessary for the stimulation of young minds".[ 2]
He then studied chemistry at New College, Oxford, under an open scholarship, and graduated with first class honours. His D.Phil. supervisor, Charles Coulson, later wrote:
After receiving his D.Phil. for research in quantum chemistry, he joined the research staff of the British Rubber Producers Research Association.[ 2]
He was made an assistant professor at Harvard in January 1953,[ 3] and was give an A.M Honoris Causa in 1955.[ 2] His colleague Edgar Bright Wilson said:
Doctoral students who were advised by Moffitt include R. Stephen Berry and S. M. Blinder.[ 4]
He married Dorothy Silberman in 1956 and had a daughter, Alison in June 1958.[ 3] He was a keen rugby player and enjoyed music and arts[ 2] and particularly English literature.[ 3] While sharing a cabin with a monk on a voyage to the UK from the US, he discussed the philosophy of religion with him in their only common language, Latin.[ 2]