The memory of Josef Dadok lives on at CEITEC through cutting-edge research in spectroscopy

On October 4, 2024, Professor Josef Dadok, the founder of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in Czechoslovakia and a prominent figure in the field internationally, died in the United States at the age of 98. Professor Dadok worked in Brno in the 1950s and 1960s, where he led the development of the first NMR spectrometers at the Institute of Instrumentation of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, later mass-produced by the national company Tesla Brno, making Czechoslovakia one of the world leaders in this field.

In 1967 Josef Dadok went to the USA for a work placement, from where he did not return due to political developments in Czechoslovakia after 1968, but where he continued to develop NMR technologies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Here he developed the first superconducting spectrometer with a magnetic field of 14.1 T and an operating frequency of 600 MHz, which was for many years the most powerful device of its kind.

CEITEC: The memory of Josef Dadok lives on at CEITEC through cutting-edge research in spectroscopy

In 2013, Professor Dadok was awarded an honorary doctorate from Masaryk University and Brno University of Technology for his outstanding contribution to Czechoslovak science and technology. The National Centre for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance CEITEC MUNI bears his name in his honour. "The Josef Dadok National NMR Centre was inaugurated in 2013 with the personal participation of Prof. Dadok and still serves users from all over the world. Its name commemorates Josef Dadok's fundamental contribution to the development of this technology not only in Czechoslovakia but also on the international scene," says Radovan Fiala, who started his professional career at the Institute of Instrumentation of the CAS in Brno, in the department founded by Josef Dadok.

"The pioneering work of Josef Dadok has been followed up by the development of a spectrometer that can simultaneously measure electron spin resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance by revolutionary fast scanning. Our instrument will serve interdisciplinary research at the Josef Dadok National NMR Centre at CEITEC MUNI," adds Petr Neugebauer, head of the magneto-optical and THz spectroscopy research group at CEITEC BUT.

Many other scientists also keep Josef Dadok's legacy in spectroscopy alive and continue to build on this legacy, as Professor Josef Dadok was not only an outstanding scientist and engineer, but also an inspiring mentor and colleague who influenced many generations of researchers.

CEITEC - The memory of Josef Dadok lives on at CEITEC through cutting-edge research in spectroscopy