The research by Thor Rhodin, a professor from 1958 to 1991 in Applied and Engineering Physics, was responsible for the birth and evolution of surface science, beginning with his research on surface sensitivity using auger electron spectroscopy. He played a major role in shaping the development of the field from fundamental work, using the field ion microscope, on the imaging and bonding of individual atoms at surfaces to the fundamentals of surface catalysis of hydrocarbon chemistry by the transition metals. Professor Rhodin is pictured on the left with grad student Wesley Capehart.