Professor Petr Zuman: Life and Legacy

Abstract

This lecture will address Prof. Zuman’s legacy and influence through the experiences of one of his scientific sons and one of his scientific grandsons. Petr was born and raised in the city of Prague during the rather tumultuous events of World War II. Early academic achievements after the war included a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Charles University in 1950, under future Nobel laureate Prof. J. Heyrovsky, who invited him to join the new Polarographic Institute in Prague in 1950. Shortly afterwards, Petr was appointed head of the Organic Electrochemistry Division of the Polarographic Institute and launched his research career in organic electrochemistry. He was both originator and major innovator in this area, which he focused on for the rest of his life. In 1967, he was awarded Dr. Science, Czech Acad. Sci. Also in this year, his influential monograph P. Zuman, Substituent Effects in Organic Polarography, was published.In 1966 Petr took up to a guest professorship at University of Birmingham in the UK. In 1970, he moved to Clarkson University as Professor of Chemistry. In 1991, he retired as Distinguished Emeritus Research Professor, but kept active in research into his 90’s. Over his long career, Petr published nearly 500 papers and dozens of books, and mentored 100s of undergrads, grad students, and postdocs and other researchers. He was the ultimate pioneer in development of the field of Organic Electrochemistry, which is now gaining renewed popularity. This talk will also illustrate Petr’s influence on the research efforts of the authors.