Chicago chemist wins foremost national chemistry award

Chemist Fred Basolo of Glenview, Ill., will be honored April 3 by the world's largest scientific society for a career of remarkable contributions to the advancement of chemical knowledge. He will receive the 2001 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society at its 221st national meeting in San Diego.

Basolo, an inorganic chemist who studies metal-containing compounds - similar to porphyrin in blood, for example - is considered one of the pioneers of American achievement in the field, originally dominated by Germany. His fundamental studies of metal complexes have helped biologists understand protein function, the petroleum industry refine oil, pharmaceutical companies design drugs and a host of other research efforts.

The Northwestern University professor emeritus said the 300 residents of his hometown Coello, Ill., were hit hard by the Great Depression. "My brother and sister didn't even go to high school because they had to go to work," he said. "I did because I was too young yet to work."

One of the New Deal's programs allowed him next to go to normal school, where Basolo prepared to become a high school teacher. But advisor James Neckers recommended graduate school instead for the coal miner's son, and in 1943 Basolo and his new doctoral chemistry degree joined the war effort in classified research.

After the war, however, he wanted to return to a teaching career. He joined the Northwestern faculty in 1946 and now, 10 years after retirement, still goes into his office each day to edit two journals, write his autobiography, prepare guest lectures and administer other projects.

Basolo himself was inspired to pursue chemistry by a teacher, but in an unusual way. "My high school chemistry teacher was a beautiful young lady who had majored in home economics," he said. "She told us she didn't understand chemistry and we'd have to learn it ourselves. That actually ended up helpful, because she turned us loose!"

Northwestern colleague D.F. Shriver described Basolo's own teaching efforts as "models of clarity and enthusiasm." To support the chemist's award nomination, Shriver wrote, "One of the most frequent comments we receive from alumni is their fond and favorable memories of Basolo's courses."

Basolo received a bachelor's degree in education from Southern Illinois Normal University in 1940 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1943. He is a member of the ACS inorganic division and was the society's president in 1983. His other prominent honors include induction into the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The ACS established the Priestley Medal, its highest award, in 1922 in honor of Joseph Priestley, the 18th century British chemist who is one of the discoverers of oxygen.