International Centre for Diffraction Data – Ludo Frevel Crystallography Graduate Scholarship

The science of crystallography has played a key role in the development of X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and neutron diffraction for the elucidation of the atomic structure of matter.

Crystallography is an interdisciplinary branch of science taught in departments of physics, chemistry, geology, molecular biology, metallurgy, and material science. To encourage promising graduate students to pursue crystallographically oriented research, the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) has established a Crystallography Scholarship Fund, known as the Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship Fund. While the Ewald Prize is awarded every three years to an internationally recognized crystallographer, little effort has been made by science departments to cultivate aspiring crystallographers. Convinced of the beneficial, scientific impact of the proposed scholarships for crystallographically oriented research, the ICDD has solicited funds from private and industrial sectors to support this program.

About Ludo Frevel

A gentleman and scientist, Ludo joined The Dow Chemical Company Spectroscopy Laboratory in 1936 and until retirement, was one of Dow’s top scientists. In fact, he was the first Dow scientist to have the title ‘Research Specialist’. He held 60 patents and co-authored 446 technical papers, publishing his most recent paper at age 95. Ludo was co-author with Hanawalt and Rinn on the famous 1938 paper, “Chemical Analysis by X-ray Diffraction”, was a world expert in catalysis, and was known for several innovations in the field of powder diffraction. He also wrote some of the first computer automated material identification software utilizing X-ray powder diffraction data.  Ludo served as ICDD Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1990-1992.