Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Chemical Engineering
My efforts, which are largely theoretical, are directed toward questions on the border between chemistry and materials science. Since experiment is the final arbiter of the success of theory, I work closely with students who are interested in experiments. Although some students concentrate solely on experiment, others combine both theory and experiment, and all students are encouraged to analyze data and form conclusions based on their own findings. Recent research problems have included solid state diffusion, crystal growth, and critical phenomena involving chemical reactions in binary liquid mixtures with a consolute point.
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About James K. Baird
My efforts, which are largely theoretical, are directed toward questions on the border between chemistry and materials science. Since experiment is the final arbiter of the success of theory, I work closely with students who are interested in experiments. Although some students concentrate solely on experiment, others combine both theory and experiment, and all students are encouraged to analyze data and form conclusions based on their own findings. Recent research problems have included solid state diffusion, crystal growth, and critical phenomena involving chemical reactions in binary liquid mixtures with a consolute point.
| 1982 - Present | Professor of Chemistry, Adjunct professor of Physics, and Chemical Engineering, The University of Alabama in Huntsville | |
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| 1981 - 1982 | Manager, General Electric Company ‐ Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory: Radiochemistry Unit | |
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| 1970 - 1981 | Research Physicist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory ‐ Health Physics Division | |
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| 1969 - 1970 | Captain, U.S. Army | |
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Research Interests
Grants
| 2015 - 2016 | "Role of Sinusoidal Oscillations in the Bridgman Growth of CdZnTe Crystals" |
| NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | |
| $7,800 | |
| 2005 - 2007 | "Cosmic Ray Shielding Materials" |
| NASA/MSFC | |
| $36,000 | |
| 2002 - 2005 | "The Consolute Point Battery" |
| U.S. Army/SMDC | |
| $113,000 | |
| 2001 - 2002 | "Viscosity of Molten HgZnTe" |
| NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | |
| $15,000 | |
| 1994 - 2002 | "Protein Crystal Growth Kinetics" |
| National Institutes of Health | |
| $207,000 | |
| 2001 | "Chemical Equilibrium at the Critical Point of Solution" |
| Alabama NASA EPSCOR | |
| $12,500 | |
| 1995 - 2001 | "Lysozyme Crystal Growth" |
| Southeastern Universities Research Association | |
| $42,000 | |
| 1995 - 2000 | "Chemical Kinetics at the Critical Point of Solution |
| Petroleum Research Fund of the America Chemical Society | |
| $25,000 | |
| 1994 - 2000 | "Hydrogen Diffusion in Metals" |
| Naval Research Laboratory | |
| $51,000 | |
| 1999 | "Thermoelectricity" |
| Air Force Office of Scientific Research | |
| $40,000 | |
| 1997 | "Electrophoretic Mobility of Protein Crystals" |
| Alabama Space Grant Consortium | |
| $10,000 | |
| 1995 - 1997 | "Shock Waves and Solids" |
| Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base | |
| $59,800 | |
| 1986 - 1997 | "Solution Phase Diffusion" |
| NASA Sponsored UAH Consortium for Materials Development in Space | |
| $206,000 | |
| 1994 - 1996 | "Thermal Plasma Production of Nitric Acid" |
| Alabama Space Grant Consortium | |
| $10,000 | |
| 1990 - 1993 | "Kinetics of Diffusional Droplet Growth in a Liquid Two-Phase System |
| NASA Headquarters | |
| $104,700 | |
| 1984 - 1992 | "Electron Transport in Liquid Hydrocarbons" |
| Petroleum Research Fund of the America Chemical Society | |
| $15,000 | |
| 1988 - 1991 | "Plasma Chemistry of Ammonia" |
| NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | |
| $154,000 | |
| 1985 - 1990 | "Protein Crystal Growth" |
| NASA Headquarters | |
| $288,957 | |
| 1984 - 1987 | "Crystal Growth in the System Hg/Cd/Te" |
| NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | |
| $85,000 | |
| 1984 - 1986 | "Ostwald Ripening" |
| NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | |
| $74,255 |
Professional Service and Affiliations
| Present | American Chemical Society, Member | Present | American Physical Society, Member |
Honors and Awards
- Defense Atomic Support Agency Certificate of Achievement, 1970
- NATO Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Theoretical Chemistry, Oxford University, England, 1979-1982
- American Chemical Society, Carolina-Piedmont Section, CHarles H. Stone Award for Research, 1991
- American Society for Engineering Education Distinguished Summer Faculty Research Fellow, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, 1993
- Summer Faculty Research Fellow, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 2001
- University of Alabama in Huntsville Foundation Award in Research and Creative Achievement in the Physical Sciences, 2008
- University of Alabama in Huntsville Student Government Association Outstanding Teacher Award, 1996
- Alpha Lambda Delta Freshma Honor Society Best Teacher of the Year Award, 1997
- University of Alabama in Huntsville College of Science Dean's Service Award, 2001
Courses
- CH 101: Introduction to Chemistry
- CH 121/CH 123: General Chemistry I and II
- CH 341: Chemical Thermodynamics
- CH 342: Chemical Kinetics
- CH 343: Quantum Chemistry
- CH 346: Experimental Physical Chemistry II
- CH 347/CH 348: Biophysical Chemistry
- CH 640: Advanced Chemical Dynamics
- CH 641: Statistical Thermodynamics
- CH 642: Advanced Chemical Dynamics
- CH 643: Quantum Chemistry
- CH 644: Chemical Electrodynamics
- CH 746: Solid State Chemistry
- PH 560/PH 561: Solid State Physics
- PH 621: Statistical Mechanics and Kinetic Theory I
| 1969 | Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, Harvard University | |
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| 1965 | M.A. in Physics, Harvard University | |
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| 1963 | B.S. in Chemistry, Yale University | |
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Contact Information
301 Sparkman Drive
Materials Science Building
Room 115
Huntsville, AL 35899
james.baird@uah.edu
256-824-6441