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The first Ph.D. 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 that period, there were only two inorganic courses offered at Northwestern.
These were taught by Harold Walton and Pierce Selwood. Walton's emphasis was on teaching, and soon after he left Northwestern, he wrote a useful book, Inorganic Preparations. Selwood's research focused on magneto chemistry and the properties of heterogeneous catalysis. His book, titled Magnetochemistry, first published in 1943 with two following editions, was widely consulted by inorganic chemists. However, there were very few graduate students in inorganic chemistry during that time.
In 1946, the department hired Fred Basolo, who was knowledgeable about Werner metal complexes. Basolo teamed up with a contemporary, Ralph Pearson, who initially was a physical organic chemist. Basolo and Pearson published 53 joint papers as well as the highly influential book, Kinetics and Mechanisms of Inorganic Reactions (widely known as the 'bible' of Mechanistic Inorganic chemistry). In this renaissance period for inorganic chemistry, the discipline developed rapidly throughout the country.
During this period, Basolo and Pearson attracted outstanding graduate students (Andrew Wojcicki, Harry Gray, Robert Angelici, and many others), who have made major contributions to the field, and subsequently assumed leadership positions in industry and academics.
Many professors advised their best under- graduate students to pursue graduate work at Northwestern. The inorganic chemistry program at Northwestern became one of the strongest in the U.S., and it now ranks among the best in the world. In recent years, U.S. News and World Report has variously ranked Northwestern's inorganic chemistry program between first and fourth in the nation.
Support of the department and the University has made it possible to add other inorganic chemists: Louis Allred (1956), Duward Shriver (1961), James Ibers (1964), Tobin Marks (1970), Kenneth Poeppelmeier (1984), Thomas O'Halloran (1986), Chad Mirkin (1991), and Hilary Arnold Godwin (1996), who have established vigorous research programs including coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, solid state chemistry, and bioinorganic chemistry.
The boundaries between subdisciplines are highly permeable at Northwestern, and major contributions in inorganic chemistry have been made by faculty members who teach and do research in physical and organic chemistry: Irving Klotz, Brian Hoffman, Joseph Hupp, Joseph Lambert, and SonBinh Nguyen.
Many national and international awards have been received by this group for research conducted at Northwestern, and many inorganic chemists around the world started their careers in Evanston.
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