Benjamin Widom

Benjamin Widom (born 13 October 1927) is the Goldwin Smith Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University.

His research interests include physical chemistry and statistical mechanics.

He graduated from New York City's Stuyvesant High School in 1945, and received his BA from Columbia University in 1949, followed by his PhD from Cornell in 1953.

He became an instructor of chemistry at Cornell in 1954, was appointed assistant professor in 1955 and a full professor in 1963.

He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1974 and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1979.

Widom's niece Jennifer Widom is the Frederick Emmons Terman Dean of the Stanford School of Engineering and the Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science.

Widom is father to Michael Widom, a professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University, Elizabeth Widom, a professor of geology at Miami University, and Jonathan Widom, a professor of biochemistry at Northwestern University.

He is brother to Harold Widom, professor emeritus of mathematics at U. C. Santa Cruz.

He was chair of the chemistry department between 1978 and 1981.

In 1998, Widom was awarded the Boltzmann Medal "for his illuminating studies of the statistical mechanics of fluids and fluid mixtures and their interfacial properties, especially his clear and general formulation of scaling hypotheses for the equation of state and surface tensions of fluids near critical points."

Widom was born in Newark, New Jersey.