John Courtney "Jack" Decius (1920 – 1994) was an American physical chemist, molecular spectroscopist, and researcher on the faculty of Oregon State College. He made significant contributions to the study of vibrational spectra, dipole and ion interactions, and infrared and Raman spectroscopy of crystals and ionic species.
Early life and education John C. Decius was born Feb. 13, 1920, in San Francisco, the son of Lewis Courtney Decius and Grace (Towne) Decius. In 1941 he took his baccalaureate degree in chemistry at Stanford, and in 1947 earned his Ph.D. at Harvard, with a dissertation titled, I. Vibrational Potential Functions for Several Halomethanes and Halo-Ethanes II. The Principles of Dimensional Analysis and Scaled Models, advised by Edgar Bright Wilson.Decius, John Courtney. I. Vibrational Potential Functions for Several Halomethanes and Halo-Ethanes II. The Principles of Dimensional Analysis and Scaled Models. Source: Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities 1933-1955, 1946/1947, volume 14, page 25 American Doctoral Dissertations, Source code: W1947, page: 0025.
Decius married Anne Streeter in 1948, and they raised a son, Peter S. Decius, and daughters Joyce S. Decius Lowry and Sylvia Russell. They had three grandchildren.
Decius died in 1994, due to injuries sustained in an auto accident.
Career Decius became a professor of chemistry at Oregon State College in 1949. He retired as a designated "Distinguished Professor" in 1981.
Selected publications
Books
Wilson, E. B.; Decius, J. C.; Cross, P. C. (1980). Molecular Vibrations: The Theory of Infrared and Raman Vibrational Spectra. Italy: Dover Publications.
Articles 1. Molecular topology, coordinates, and compliance matrix
2. Isotopic substitution rules and force constant determination
3. Infrared intensities and the effective charge flux model Decius, J. C. "An effective atomic charge model for infrared intensities" J. Mol. Spectrosc., 57(3), 346–362 (1975).Vol.57(3), 346–362 (1975).
4. Vibrational dynamics and excitons in crystals
5. Raman intensity metrics, nonlinear hyper-Raman selection rules
6. Specialized polyatomic systems and experimental diagnostics
Awards and honors 1955 – Guggenheim Fellow 1955-56 – Fulbright Fellow 1956 – Sloan Fellow 1962 – Fellow of the American Physical Society 1965 – OSU Alumni Distinguished Professor Award
References