Jon T. Hougen

Jon Torger Hougen (23 October 1936 in Sheboygan – 28 January 2019 in Taipei) was an American chemist.

Hougen finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1956. He obtained his Master's and doctoral degrees at Harvard University. He worked at Harvard University under the research direction of William Moffitt and William Klemperer. He started his career at the National Research Council of Canada. In 1967, he joined the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology). He started there as a member of D.R. Lide's Microwave and Infrared Group. Later, he was the chief of the Molecular Spectroscopy Section. In 1984, he was named a senior research fellow. For a year, he served as acting chief of the Molecular Physics Division. After retiring in 2001, he continued his research as a NIST scientist emeritus.

His research focused on quantum mechanical and group theoretical calculations of quantities related to molecular spectroscopy.

Three of his most-cited publications are:

• Hougen, Jon T. (15 January 1962). "Rotational Energy Levels of a Linear Triatomic Molecule in a Π Electronic State". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 36 (2): 519–534. Bibcode:1962JChPh..36..519H. doi:10.1063/1.1732544.
• Hougen, J.T.; Bunker, P.R.; Johns, J.W.C. (April 1970). "The vibration-rotation problem in triatomic molecules allowing for a large-amplitude bending vibration". Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy. 34 (1): 136–172. Bibcode:1970JMoSp..34..136H. doi:10.1016/0022-2852(70)90080-9.
• Hougen, Jon T. (October 1962). "Classification of Rotational Energy Levels for Symmetric‐Top Molecules". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 37 (7): 1433–1441. Bibcode:1962JChPh..37.1433H. doi:10.1063/1.1733301.

He spoke several languages: French, German, Czech, Japanese, and Chinese in addition to English.

Hougen was awarded the following awards:

• Coblentz Award in 1968
• NBS Silver Medal in 1974
• Fellow of American Physical Society in 1979
• NBS Gold Medal in 1980
• Ellis R. Lippincott Award in 1984
• Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy in 1984
• Marcus Marci Award from the Czech Spectroscopy Society in 1990

The Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy dedicated two special issues to him in honor of his 68th and 80th birthday. Two awards have been created in his memory: Jon Hougen travel award for the 26th Colloquium on High-Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy and the Jon Hougen Memorial Award that will be awarded annually at the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy starting in 2020.