Theodore (Ted) Kuwana

Theodore (Ted) Kuwana Emeritus Distinguished Professor and Regents Distinguished Professor
Born	August 3, 1931 Idaho Falls, Idaho
💀Died	January 1, 2022(2022-01-01) (aged 90) Seattle, WashingtonJanuary 1, 2022(2022-01-01) (aged 90)
Other names	Known to his students as "TK"
💼 Occupation	Scientific researcher, chemistry professor
Known for	Spectroelectrochemistry

Theodore Kuwana was a chemist and academic researcher who is widely regarded as the founding father of the field of spectroelectrochemistry. His academic career included appointments at California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Riverside, Case Western Reserve, Ohio State University, and finally at the University of Kansas. At KU, he was Regents Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, the Director of the Center for Bioanalytical Research, and eventually Emeritus Distinguished Professor. He mentored more than 70 graduate students, and served as managing director of the Analytical Sciences Digital Library.

Early life and education

Theodore Kuwana, the youngest of six children of immigrant parents Yoshino and Nenokichi Kuwana, was born August 3, 1931, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the United States. Kuwans wrote, "I was the youngest of six children; my parents were immigrant tenant potato farmers... When I was 10 and 12, I lost my father and mother, respectively, to cancer. Early on, mother had said, 'You must go to college.' I was the only one in our family to do so."

Kuwana's interest in chemistry started while he was in elementary school, when he was given "a Gilbert chemistry kit" one Christmas. In high school he won the Bausch & Lomb Medal for Excellence in chemistry. His baccalaureate degree in 1954 was from Antioch College, and his M.S. in 1956 was from Cornell University. Kuwana earned his Ph.D. in 1959 at the University of Kansas, with a dissertation titled, Studies in Electroanalytical Chemistry: The Development of a Mercury Chloride Film Anode and Chronopotentiometric Studies in Aqueous and Non-aqueous Solutions, supervised by Ralph N. Adams.

In 1965, Kuwan wed Jane Bader, a talented writer and editor, who became the editor of his writings. The couple had a son and a daughter.

Career

After postdoctoral training with Fred Anson at California Institute of Technology, Kuwana briefly worked at an aerospace firm before he went to the University of California, Riverside in 1960 as a visiting assistant professor. He became an associate professor at Case Western Reserve in 1965, and a full professor there in 1968. From 1971–1986 he was on the faculty of Ohio State University. Kuwana joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in 1986, becoming Regents Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and the Director of the Center for Bioanalytical Research.

Kuwana is credited as the founding father of spectroelectrochemistry:

The origin of spectroelectrochemistry at an OTE [optically transparent electrode] appears to date from a conversation held at the University of Kansas in the late 1950's between young assistant professor Ralph Adams and his first graduate student Ted Kuwana. As recalled by Kuwana, Adams, while observing the production of an intense yellow color in the solution near a platinum anode during the oxidation of o-tolidine commented that "...it would be nice to have a 'seethrough' electrode to spectrally identify the colored species being formed..." Later, Kuwana obtained samples of a conducting glass (antimony doped tin oxide-coated glass), and the first spectroelectrochemistry at an OTE was performed on o-tolidine.

— William R. Heineman

Citing Kuwana's "profound impact on analytical chemistry education", Wenzel, et al., observed, "The primary recommendation, especially encouraged by industrial workshop participants, was that the undergraduate analytical sciences curriculum needed to engage students in problem-based experiences in the classroom and laboratory portion of courses."

Kuwana served as managing director of the Analytical Sciences Digital Library (ASDL), and editor Cynthia Larive wrote that she "especially acknowledges the leadership and continued contributions of Professor Emeritus Ted Kuwana, University of Kansas, to the development and continued evolution of the ASDL project".

Richard L. McCreery wrote, "Ted Kuwana was not only a scientific leader in electrochemistry and related fields, but he was also an excellent citizen and unselfish contributor to the careers of many other scientists, myself included." Kuwana mentored more than 70 graduate students.

Selected publications

• T. Kuwana, R.K. Darlington, and D.W. Leedy, (1964), Electrochemical Studies using Conducting Glass Indicator Electrodes, Anal. Chem., 36: 2023–2025. doi.org/10.1021/ac60216a003
• W.N. Hansen, R.A. Osteryoung, and T. Kuwana, (1966), Internal Reflection Spectroscopic Observation of Electrode-Solution Interface, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 88: 1062.
• W.N. Hansen, R.A. Osteryoung, and T. Kuwana, (1966), Observation of electrode-solution interface by means of internal reflection spectrometry, Anal. Chem., 38: 1810–1821.
• Physical Methods in Modern Chemical Analysis. Volume 1 Editor: Theodore Kuwana, Academic Press, New York, 1978.

Patents

• Patent 45419051, Kuwana, Theodore & Wen-Hong Kao, "Electrodes for use in electrocatalytic processes", issued Sep 7, 1984 .
• Patent 4487669, Kuwana, Theodore, "Method for oxidation of and element in both compartments of and electrolytic cell", issued Dec 11, 1984 .
• Patent 5031449, Kuwana, Theodore; Juan Marioli & Javad Zadeii, "Electrochemical detector for liquid chromatographic analysis of carbohydrates", issued Jul 6, 1991 .

Awards and honors

• American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry's J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education (2004)
• EPSCoR Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award (2002)
• American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry (1995)
• The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry Honorary Membership and Medal (1991)
• Society of Electroanalytical Chemists C.N. Reilly Award (1989)
• Kuwana was honored with a special tribute issue of the journal Electroanalysis, "in recognition of his 50+ years of seminal contributions to the fields of electroanalytical chemistry, spectroelectrochemistry, analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, and analytical chemistry education."

See also

• Electrochemistry
• Spectroscopy
• Electroanalytical methods

External links

• Theodore Kuwana - Publications
• Chemistry Tree - Theodore Kuwana Family Tree
• Official website

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