In Memoriam: Remembering Professor Kozo Kuchitsu (1927-2021)

doi:10.1515/ci-2022-0118

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In Memoriam

Remembering Professor Kozo Kuchitsu (1927-2021)

Published/Copyright: January 25, 2022

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From the journal Chemistry International Volume 44 Issue 1

Abstract

Professor Kozo Kuchitsu passed away on 22 March 2021. A full Obituary has appeared in Chemical Physics Letters 779, 138791 (2021) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2021.138791). Here, we would like to remember his tremendous contribution to IUPAC, Commission I.1, and the “Green Book.”

Professor Kuchitsu graduated from the Department of Chemistry, the University of Tokyo, in 1951 and received his Doctor of Science degree in 1958 under the supervision of Professor Yonezo Morino. He was appointed Assistant and then Associate Professor in the same department, and succeeded Professor Morino in 1969 at the Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, the University of Tokyo.

Professor Kuchitsu joined the Physical Chemistry Division of IUPAC (Division 1), starting as an associate member of Commission 1.1 on Symbols, Terminology, and Units. He then became titular member and was elected Chairman of the Commission I.1 (1981-1985). Besides Commission I.1, Professor Kuchitsu also served as President (1993-1995) and Past President (1996-1997) of the Physical Chemistry Division.

Professor Kozo Kuchitsu (fifth from right) at an IUPAC meeting with the core group preparing the third edition of the Green Book. The meeting took place on 12-16 March 1999 at Hotel Europe, Engelberg, Switzerland. From left to right: Bertil Holmstroem (Sweden), Jeremy Frey (United Kingdom), Tom Cvitas (Croatia), Herb Strauss (USA), Martin Quack (Switzerland), Kozo Kuchitsu (Japan), Franco Pavese (Italy), Michio Takami (Japan), Juergen Stohner (Switzerland), and Roberto Marquardt (France) with a view of Mount Hahnen in the back.

Cover of the Japanese translation of the Green Book, Third Edition, RSC Publishing, Cambridge, UK (2007). The translation was completed by joint efforts of AIST (National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) and the CSJ (Chemical Society of Japan) subcommittee on Units and Symbols (published by Kodansha, Tokyo, April 2009).

Among his many contributions to IUPAC, he was one of the five founding authors of “Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry,” known as “the IUPAC Green Book.” (first edition; 1988); as well as a co-author of the second (1995) and third editions (2007). Long after his official appointment at Commission I.1, he kept working on the Green Book and its related publications. Especially in the 2000s, he was instrumental in preparing the Japanese translation of the third edition as well as of its compact ten-page version, which was a translation of “A Concise Summary of Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry” by Jürgen Stohner and Martin Quack.

The meetings with Professor Kuchitsu were always marked by his great kindness; he discussed complex issues with genuine interest, patiently listening to others, and carefully considering their opinions. He was greatly appreciated for his deep insight on wide-ranging subjects, his enthusiasm, as well as his attention to detail, and the extraordinary amount of work that he carried out tirelessly, even in his eighties.

Professor Kuchitsu profoundly shaped Commission I.1 and the “Green Book,” for which he had a special affection. We will remember him for his thoughtfulness, his profound scientific knowledge, and his generous and kind personality.

Online erschienen: 2022-01-25

Erschienen im Druck: 2022-01-01

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ci-2022-0118