(Chapter in Microelectrodes: Theory and Applications, a vo...)
Chapter in Microelectrodes: Theory and Applications, a volume in the NATO ASI Series (volume 197), edited by M. I. Montenegro, M. A. Queirós and J. L. Daschbach and published by Springer.
(Chapter in Electrochemistry in Transition, published by S...)
Chapter in Electrochemistry in Transition, published by Springer US and edited by O. J. Murphy, S. Srinivasan and B. E. Conway, which examines electrochemical nucleation on active sites on electrodes.
Benjamin Ruben Scharifker is an Argentine-born chemist and educator based in Caracas, Venezuela. He is known for electrochemistry research, including studies of electrochemical nucleation, and for leadership in Venezuelan higher education and scientific academies, serving as rector of Simón Bolívar University from 2005 to 2009.
Background
Benjamin Ruben Scharifker was born on September 21, 1953, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the capital and largest city of Argentina. He was the son of Gregorio and Sarah (Podolsky) Scharifker.
The family was Jewish and migrated to Venezuela when he was about four years old, arriving in 1957. Immigration to Venezuela increased during the 1950s, when the country's oil-based economy was expanding and attracted newcomers from Europe and Latin America. Settling in Venezuela at a young age placed his schooling and later academic career within Venezuelan institutions.
Education
Scharifker earned his first degree in chemistry at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1976. The university was founded in 1970 as a publicly funded institution named after the independence leader Simón Bolívar. It became one of Venezuela's most prominent research universities, with a strong emphasis on science and engineering.
He then pursued doctoral studies in England, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy in physical chemistry from the University of Southampton in 1979. Southampton had received its royal charter as a university in 1952, and its chemistry department had a notable electrochemistry tradition, which was associated with the work of Martin Fleischmann. Scharifker's doctorate placed his training in physical chemistry, the field that later became central to his electrochemical research.
Scharifker began his academic career at Simón Bolívar University in 1980, when he became an associate professor of chemistry. He established an electrochemistry research group at the university, and over time that group produced more than a hundred research publications, patents and books.
From 1984 to 1986 he worked as a senior scientist at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Founded in 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, the institution became a land-grant university with extensive research programs in the physical sciences and engineering.
He returned to Simón Bolívar University as a professor of chemistry in 1987 and served as head of the chemistry department until 1989. From 1992 to 1996 he was dean of research and development. During the 1990s he also held national science-policy roles: from 1994 to 1996 he coordinated research and development for the National Council of Universities of Venezuela, which coordinated the country's universities, and from 1994 he served on the board of directors of the National Research Council of Venezuela, the body that funded and promoted scientific research.
Scharifker later held senior administrative posts at his university. He served as vice-rector for administration from 2001 to 2005 and as rector from 2005 to 2009. He is a professor emeritus of Simón Bolívar University, and he later became rector of the Universidad Metropolitana, a private university in Caracas, serving from 2011 to 2021.
In an interview with Chemistry World, he described how the research staff of his electrochemistry group had largely left Venezuela during the country's university funding crisis. He also noted the sharp decline in the country's research output over the preceding two decades.
With G. J. Hills, he co-authored the 1983 paper 'Theoretical and experimental studies of multiple nucleation' in Electrochimica Acta. The study addresses how new phases form on electrode surfaces, and it has become one of the most frequently cited works in electrochemical nucleation research, with more than 3,000 citations recorded on Google Scholar.
He founded an electrochemistry research group at Simón Bolívar University, which later produced more than a hundred research publications, patents and books on electrochemistry.
His studies of conducting polymers elucidated the mechanisms of formation and the growth kinetics of thin films of these materials, and examined how charge carriers arise in conducting polymers and how catalyst metal particles affect polymer matrices.
He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers, which have accumulated more than 10,000 citations, and he holds three patents.
(Co-authored with G. J. Hills and published in Electrochim...)
1983
Religion
Scharifker's documented religious affiliation is Judaism. He migrated to Venezuela as a young child with his Jewish family, and his religious affiliation is recorded within that family context.
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Its core tradition rests on the covenant between God and the people of Israel, the authority of the Hebrew Bible, and the rabbinic interpretive literature of the Talmud. Its ethical emphasis on study, justice, and communal responsibility has shaped Jewish community life in the diaspora, including the Jewish families who settled in Latin America during the twentieth century.
Membership
Scharifker holds membership in several scientific academies. He was a corresponding member of the Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales de Venezuela in 1998 and a full member from 2003, and he served as the academy's president from 2009 to 2011. The academy brings together the physical, mathematical and natural sciences in Venezuela and promotes their development.
He is also a fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, known as TWAS, which was founded to strengthen scientific capacity in developing countries, and he is a member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences.
In electrochemistry and chemistry he is connected with the International Society of Electrochemistry, the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom, and The Electrochemical Society in the United States, which was founded in 1902 and organizes research meetings and publications. He is also a member of the Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia, a Venezuelan association that promotes scientific advancement, and he served as president of the Venezuelan Society of Electrochemistry from 1991 to 1994.
Corresponding member in 1998, member from 2003, and president from 2009 to 2011
Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales
,
Venezuela
1998 - present
Fellow
Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS)
2003 - present
Member
Academia de Ciencias de América Latina
2003 - present
The Electrochemical Society
,
United States
1984 - present
Member
International Society of Electrochemistry
Member
Royal Society of Chemistry
,
United Kingdom
Member
Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia
,
Venezuela
1980 - present
President
Venezuelan Society of Electrochemistry
,
Venezuela
1991 - 1994
President
Galilean Society
1987 - 1989
Vice president
Friends of the Air Foundation
,
United States
1984 - 1988
Connections
Scharifker has three children: Julieta, Diego and Alex. His parents were Gregorio and Sarah (Podolsky) Scharifker.
Father:
Gregorio Scharifker
Mother:
Sarah (Podolsky) Scharifker
child:
Alex Scharifker
child:
Julieta Scharifker
child:
Diego Scharifker
References
Scharifker, Benjamin R. (TWAS academy profile)
Academy profile describing his appointments at Simón Bolívar University and Universidad Metropolitana, his presidency of the Venezuelan academy, his prizes, and his publication record.
Chemistry in times of political crisis
Chemistry World feature in which Scharifker, then rector of Universidad Metropolitana, describes the effects of Venezuela's university crisis on his electrochemistry group and on the country's research output.
Benjamín Scharifker, Simón Bolívar University biographical page
Biographical page from Simón Bolívar University summarizing his degrees, his doctorate at the University of Southampton, his academic posts, his presidency of the Venezuelan academy, and his work on electrochemistry and conducting polymers.
Awarded in 1986 in Geneva in connection with the International Society of Electrochemistry, a society that promotes electrochemical research internationally.
Awarded in 1986 in Geneva in connection with the International Society of Electrochemistry, a society that promotes electrochemical research internationally.
CONICIT Prize in Chemistry,
Venezuela
Awarded in 1991 by the National Research Council of Venezuela (CONICIT) for scientific work in chemistry. CONICIT is the Venezuelan government body that funds and coordinates scientific and technological research.
Awarded in 1991 by the National Research Council of Venezuela (CONICIT) for scientific work in chemistry. CONICIT is the Venezuelan government body that funds and coordinates scientific and technological research.
Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury Science Prize,
Venezuela
Awarded in 1993 by the Polar Foundation in Caracas, a private foundation that supports science, education and culture in Venezuela.
Awarded in 1993 by the Polar Foundation in Caracas, a private foundation that supports science, education and culture in Venezuela.
