DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

James A. Ibers Summer Lectures 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 chemistry 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.

In 2017, Northwestern’s Summer Inorganic Chemistry Series was renamed “The James A. Ibers Summer Lectures” to honor Ibers’ tremendous influence in the building of the Chemistry Department and the Inorganic Division over the past five decades.

The inorganic faculty has grown over the years at Northwestern with other luminary scientists. The faculty have 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 teach and do research in physical and organic chemistry.

The Department is internationally recognized as a world leader in Inorganic Chemistry and was listed in 2022 as the fourth Best Inorganic Chemistry Program by U.S. News and World Reports.

Past Ibers Lectures