DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry

The first Ph.D. thesis in Chemistry at Northwestern University was granted in 1896 for an inorganic topic, 'The Hydrolysis of Ferric Chloride.' However, Inorganic hemistry developed very slowly in the U.S. prior to the Second World War. In 1946, the Department hired Fred Basolo, and he soon teamed up with a contemporary, Ralph Pearson, who initially was a Physical Organic chemist. Fred and Ralph published 53 joint papers as well as the highly influential book, 'Kinetics and Mechanisms of Inorganic Reactions.' This was a renaissance period for inorganic chemistry, and the discipline developed rapidly throughout the country.

The inorganic faculty has grown over the years at Northwestern with other luminary scientists. The faculty has established vigorous research programs ranging from coordination to Solid-State Chemistry and Bioinorganic Chemistry. Major contributions to inorganic chemistry have been made by other faculty members who do research in Physical and Organic Chemistry.

The Chemistry Department is internationally recognized as a world leader in inorganic chemistry and was listed as the fourth Best Chemistry Program in the World by the '2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities in Chemistry.'"

Past ACS Lecturers