David Weininger

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David Weininger is a chemist and entrepreneur. He is founder of Daylight Chemical Information Systems, a company in Santa Fe, New Mexico that does rapid analysis of massive chemical databases. Weininger is the inventor of Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification (SMILES), a universal language for chemical compounds. Weininger and his team produced other specialized software packages for working chemists, including Rubicon, a rule-based geometry program for creating 3-D forms, and Thor, a client-server database for chemical information.

Weininger also was a director at the EPA in the 1980s; his laboratory was responsible for the original Clean Air Act. Weininger did his PhD research in water chemistry.

[edit] Miscellany

Weininger lives in a house once owned by science-fiction writer Roger Zelazny.
He has an astronomical observatory and invites the local Santa Fe community to viewings during new moons.
Daylight Chemical has a large statue of a molecule near the entrance to the building.
Weininger owns and flies a Russian fighter-bomber.
He once lived on a barge docked in Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans.
Weininger claims his PhD is the only degree he was ever awarded. He did not graduate high school, nor did he receive his Bachelor's or Master's degrees.
He is a licensed flight instructor, and also holds certificates to fly many types of aircraft such as twin engines, seaplanes, and helicopters.