Jan Theodoor Gerard Overbeek (Groningen, January 30, 1911 – February 19, 2007)[1] was a Dutch professor of physical chemistry at Utrecht University.
[3][4] All the characteristic features of the later work of Overbeek were present already in his thesis: formation of a simple model with the available data, set up the corresponding equations and then rigorous mathematical elaboration.
Attraction, based on the summation of the London and van der Waals interactions between the atoms was established in 1937 by Hugo Christiaan Hamaker[5] who also worked at Philips.
[6] The work had a great influence, and is still used by considerations about the stability of colloids, but also in various other fields where charged surfaces interact with each other.
His passion at that time was the understanding of the phenomenon of micro-emulsions, which were more stable in comparison to the conventional macro-emulsions.
"The Overbeek Gold Medal honours leadership and scientific excellence in the field of colloid and interface science over an entire career."