Scientist. Born in Edinburgh and educated at Boroughmuir High School, Hochstrasser dropped out of school at the age of 15. After re-focussing on his studies and private tutoring, he graduated from Heriot-Watt University in 1952, receiving a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Edinburgh in 1955. After National Service in the Royal Air Force, he moved to Canada in 1957 to join the University of British Columbia. He accepted an appointment at the University of Pennsylvania in 1963, and was promoted to Professor in 1968. Hochstrasser was interested in molecular structure and was noted as pioneer in the application of lasers in chemistry. His trademark was creativity, repeatedly able to undertake novel classes of experiment, thought by his peers to be impossible at the time. Over his career, he published more than 500 scientific papers, two books and received numerous honours and awards. He was elected an honorary fellow at the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2006 and posthmously awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Edinburgh in 2013.
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