Deceased February 3, 2012
View alumni profile (log in required)
In Memory
Bob died Feb. 3, 2012, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Sarasota, Fla., where he lived during retirement for the past 17 years.
After Amherst he received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, did postdoctoral work at UCLA and in 1956 joined the faculty at the University of Michigan. In 1965 he became professor of organic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where he remained for the next 20 years and wrote his classic book Organic Synthesis, which was published in many languages including French, German and Japanese. In 1985 he became director of the Merrell-Dow Research Institute in Strasbourg, France, and the following year he became chairman of the chemistry department and inaugural Thomas Jefferson Chair Professor at the University of Virginia.
His original research in organic synthesis and compounds achieved worldwide recognition and awards including the prestigious ACS Ernest Guenther Award in 1977 and the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 1988. The reaction known as the Ireland-Claisen rearrangement had an enormous impact on organic synthesis. He gave lucid and, with a quick sense of humor, entertaining lectures throughout the world. Fluent in many languages, he would lecture in French, German or, when in Brazil, Portuguese. A former student, James Marshall at the University of Virginia, describes Bob’s ability to illustrate the power and beauty of multistage organic synthesis as inspiring to generations of chemists, young and old. Many of his former students and postdoctoral associates have become successful chemists and held leadership positions in industry, government and universities. Although retiring to Sarasota, he maintained an active interest in developments in chemistry and conference attendance for several years. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, brother Andrew and sons Mark and Richard.
Dick Snodgrass ’51