Prof. EGON MATIJEVIĆ1922 – 2016 Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA |
Prof. Egon Matijević was born in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (now Croatia), and was a great American chemist. He earned his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Zagreb. After specialization at the University of Cambridge he continued to work at Clarkson University. Matijevic has been named the Victor K. LaMer Professor Emeritus for his 59 years of exemplary service to the University. His scientific accomplishments are world-renowned - he has more than 550 scientific papers in colloidal and surface chemistry with numerous applications in medicine and industry to his name, and was known as "Mr. Colloids". He delivered more than 70 plenary and keynote lectures at meetings and symposia in dozens of countries worldwide, including the prestigious Faraday Discourse at the Royal Institution in London. Matijevic was a brilliant scholar whose prolific and inspired research helped to shape modern colloid and surface science. His techniques have found applications in products like the capacitors used in microelectronics, magnetic memories, and the ceramics used in electronic components. Matijevic was a member of the American Chemical Society, American Association for Crystal Growth, World Academy of Ceramics, International Association of Colloid and Interface Scientists, and an honorary member of American Ceramic Society, German Colloid Society, Chemical Society of Japan and Materials Research Society of Japan. Matijevic received many honors nationally and internationally and was the only individual to receive all three major awards of the American Chemical Society in his field of colloid chemistry: The Kendall Award (1972), the Langmuir Distinguished Lecturer Award (1985), and the Ralph K. Iler Award (1993). He was also honored with the Thomas-Graham Award in 1985, the highest prize of the oldest colloidal society in the world, Germany's Kolloid Gesellschaft. Egon Matijevic passed away peacefully at the age of 94 on July 20, 2016.