The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) mourns the loss of John Baldwin, professor emeritus of chemistry.
Considered a dynamic scientist in physical organic chemistry, Baldwin was a pioneer in the use of density functional theory to gain insight into chemical bonding and reaction mechanisms. He published more than 150 papers throughout his career and continued to publish important work until his retirement, including articles in the Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry (2014), the Journal of Organic Chemistry (2008), and the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2006)..
A promising start
John Baldwin
Baldwin was born in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, in 1937 and grew up in Oak Park, Pennsylvania. According to his obituary, he was an extraordinarily well-rounded student who excelled in many sports and was valedictorian of Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1955. He continued his studies and athletic career at Dartmouth College, where he was on the ski, lacrosse and track teams and was valedictorian again in 1959. He received his PhD in physics and chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1963.
Baldwin began his career as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, an associate membership in the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois, and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. He soon moved to the University of Oregon as a full professor, where he spent 16 years. Baldwin then moved to the chemistry department at Syracuse University in 1984 as the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowed Professor of Science, where he would spend the next 40 highly productive years.
From the beginning of his career, Baldwin earned a reputation for excellence as a scholar and researcher, as well as interpersonally; he was a generous collaborator, teacher, and mentor. Baldwin became known for successfully addressing extremely challenging questions about organic reactions, using rigorous methods with precise measurements and careful analysis, and combining experimental work with molecular calculations.
This work, as well as its history and development, was summarized by Baldwin himself in a seminal article in Chemical Reviews (2003). A colleague was recently quoted as saying, “When John’s illness prevented him from communicating his creative thoughts on reaction mechanisms and science to a wider audience, a great gap was created in the field of physical organic chemistry, a gap that no one has been able to fill since. He was irreplaceable.” Another colleague says, “Having been impressed and amazed by John’s published work, I was delighted to start my career in the same department. John was always a valued colleague, both for his expertise and for his personal approach, always with caring, kindness and friendship.”
A career full of awards
Baldwin was instrumental in the realization of the Life Sciences Complex project.
Baldwin’s contributions to the field and the university were extensive. He served on the President’s Scientific Advisory Board, the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the National Institutes of Health, the Permanent Review Board of the Division of Chemistry of the National Science Foundation, the Executive Committee of the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, and the Advisory Board of the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society. He is the recipient of the 2010 James Flack Norris Award from the American Chemical Society, as well as awards from the John Simon Guggenheim and Alexander von Humboldt Foundations.
In addition to his teaching and research activities, he chaired the Chemistry Department at Syracuse University for many years and played a central role in lobbying for the Life Sciences Complex, which opened in 2008. Baldwin was involved in the final design of the facility, which resulted in entirely new teaching laboratories and research space for chemistry. He received the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence, was named Distinguished Professor, and graduated more than 10 Syracuse University doctoral students in his laboratory before retiring and becoming emeritus in 2014. His graduate students remember him as a thoughtful listener and mentor whose gentle and respectful manner encouraged their development.
Baldwin’s interests were wide-ranging and included history, music, philosophy, and foreign languages; he spoke Russian, Swedish, and German. He was known for taking a genuine and deep interest in the vocations of his friends, regardless of the field. He served on the board of the Chamber Music Society and supported the Society for New Music in Syracuse; he and his wife Anne hosted concerts in their home. He enjoyed every opportunity to travel, both professionally and privately, and held visiting professorships in Heidelberg, Munich, and Hamburg (Germany), Krakow (Poland), Stockholm, and Gothenburg (Sweden), and at his alma mater, Cal Tech.
Baldwin is survived by his wife and children Claire Miller Baldwin (husband Ferdinand von Muench), John Nordlander Baldwin (late wife Daphne Berdahl-Baldwin) and Wesley Hale Baldwin (wife Melisa Barrick Baldwin); his grandchildren Carrie von Muench (husband Shankara Anand), Sophie von Muench, Audrey Berdahl-Baldwin, Eloise Berdahl-Baldwin, Jack Baldwin, Ella Baldwin, Poppy Baldwin and Maisie Baldwin; his sister Martha Baldwin Swanson and numerous nieces and nephews.
Read Baldwin’s full obituary.
This story was written by Lesley Porcelli.
