It’s a year since the death of Prof. Alan R. Katritzky, founder of the modern school of heterocyclic compounds at the University of Florida in Gainsville. In his last will and testament, he demised 25 000 dollars to gifted students of the Wrocław University of Technology Faculty of Chemistry.
Prof. Katritzky, a doctor honoris causa of Wrocław University of Technology, was especially valued for his scientific reliability but also for his benevolence for the world. His activity focused on the chemistry of heterocyclic compounds, synthesis methods using selective transformation of functional groups and research on the process of nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution reactions. Many scientists from Polish universities worked at the Center for Heterocyclic Compounds in Gainsville, directed by Prof. Katritzky. “It was a great pleasure to be part of the team cooperating with Prof. Katritzky.” – said Prof. Jadwiga Sołoducho from Wrocław University of Technology, who collaborated with Prof. Katritzky from early 1990s.
Prof. Jadwiga Sołoducho likes to talk about working in his team: “You had to prove your worth. He was harsh, yet he could find common ground with us. There was time for hard work, but there was also time for meetings in a friendly ambience.” – she says – “He hated cheating but valued reliability and hard work. He was very demanding but also a bit crazy, as a scientist usually is.” – laughs Prof. Sołoducho. She admits that the over three years of work in the USA brought her new scientific opportunities.
Prof. Katritzky graduated about 160 doctoral students and cooperated with over 800 researchers from all over the world. He died on 10 February 2014. In his last will and testament, he demised 25 000 dollars to gifted students of the Wrocław University of Technology Faculty of Chemistry. “These funds may give new generations of young scientists at our University a chance to develop.” – says Prof. Sołoducho.
Prof. Andrzej Trochimczuk, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, will select the students that will receive the financial support. “The funds will be awarded to the most gifted first-cycle and second-cycle degree students, and part of the donation will be earmarked for the activity of scientific circles.” – explains Elżbieta Wojaczyńska, PhD, the Dean’s Proxy on Faculty Promotion.
Katarzyna Górowicz-Maćkiewicz
Translation: Dariusz Więcławski
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