Nicholas C. Handy

Handy was born in Wiltshire, England and educated at Clayesmore School.^[7] He studied the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge^[3] and completed his PhD on theoretical chemistry supervised by Samuel Francis Boys.^[3][8]

Handy wrote 320 scientific papers published in physical and theoretical chemistry journals.^[1][6][9] Handy developed several methods in quantum chemistry and theoretical spectroscopy. His contributions have helped greatly to the understanding of:

• the transcorrelated method ^[10]
• the long range behaviour of Hartree–Fock orbitals
• semiclassical methods for vibrational energies
• the variational method for rovibrational wave-functions (in normal mode and internal coordinates)
• Full configuration interaction with Slater determinants (benchmark studies)
• convergence of the Møller–Plesset series
• the reaction path Hamiltonian
• Anharmonic spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties using higher derivative methods
• Brueckner-doubles theory^{[citation needed]}
• Open shell Møller–Plesset theory
• frequency-dependent properties
• Density functional theory : quadrature, new functionals and molecular properties.

Handy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1990.^[1] He was awarded the Leverhulme Medal in 2002^[2] and was a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.^[11]

On 2 October 2012 Nicholas died after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.^[7]