Donald Allan Ramsay

Donald Allan Ramsay, CM, FRSC, FRS, physicist (born 11 July 1922 in London, England; died 25 October 2007 in Ottawa, ON). Educated at Cambridge University, Ramsay joined the National Research Council (NRC) in 1947. From 1975 to 1987 he headed the spectroscopy section of NRC's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics. Ramsay's research advanced knowledge of the spectra of molecules, free radicals and molecular ions in the microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions. The basic knowledge obtained has many applications in chemistry, physics and astrophysics, and provides a rigorous base for testing theoretical calculations.

Over the years, he was visiting professor at universities and scientific institutes worldwide. In 1975–76 he was named vice-president of the Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Canada, and from 1976 to 1979 honorary treasurer of that society. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of London, the American Physical Society and the Chemical Institute of Canada.