Izaak Kolthoff

Izaak Maurits (Piet) Kolthoff (February 11, 1894 – March 4, 1993) was an analytical chemist and chemistry educator. He is widely considered the father of analytical chemistry for his large volume of published research in diverse fields of analysis, his work to modernize and promote the field, and for advising a large number of students who went on to influential careers of their own.

Kolthoff's best-known research contribution was the development of the "cold process" for producing synthetic rubber, which he undertook under the U.S. synthetic rubber program during World War II. He was also active in social causes, including promoting world peace and opposing nuclear weapons testing.

Kolthoff received a PhD in chemistry from the University of Utrecht in his native Netherlands. In 1927, he immigrated to the United States, joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota, where he worked for more than 60 years.

Early life and education Kolthoff was born in Almelo, Netherlands, on February 11, 1894, the son of Moses and Rosetta (Wysenbeek) Kolthoff. He was the youngest of three children. At an early age, Kolthoff received the nickname "Piet" for unknown reasons; he continued to be called by this nickname throughout his life.

The pharmacy program at Utrecht provided a strong foundation in analytical chemistry. There Kolthoff met Nicholas Schoorl, a professor of pharmacy who became his academic adviser. Schoorl's instruction in analytical chemistry provided an emphasis on fundamental chemical principles, which was unusual at the time.

Kolthoff published his first paper in 1915 on pH, a concept that had been introduced by S. P. L. Sørensen in 1909. Also in 1915, Kolthoff obtained an "apotheker" degree in pharmacy. He continued his education at Utrecht with advanced courses in physical and colloid chemistry. When the classical language requirement for physical sciences was lifted in 1918, Kolthoff received a PhD in chemistry from the University of Utrecht. By the time he received his doctoral degree, Kolthoff had already published 32 papers in several fields. Kolthoff's scientific approach to analysis is widely accepted today, but was rare in the early 1900s when his career began.

Teaching Kolthoff advised 51 doctoral students in chemistry at the University of Minnesota, including Johannes F. Coetzee, Herbert A. Laitinen, James J. Lingane and Ernest B. Sandell, and several other masters and bachelors students. Der Gebrauch von Farbenindikatoren (1922): Kolthoff's first published monograph. This book went through several German editions and was translated into English in 1926. It was later titled "Acid-Base Indicators" after being expanded in 1937 with C. Rosenblum as coauthor.

Kolthoff never married and lived most of his life a short distance from the chemistry building, in later life in a small apartment on the first floor of Comstock Hall (at the time an all female dormatory) and maintained an office on the sixth floor of the Coffman Union. After retiring, he continued working with his lab assistant Miron Chantooni. Kolthoff died of kidney failure on 4 March 1993 at Bethesda Lutheran Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in St. Paul. Fisher Award (now called the ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry), American Chemical Society, 1950 Willard Gibbs Medal Award, Chicago Section, American Chemical Society, 1964 Charles Medal, Charles University, 1964 Kolthoff Gold Medal, Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the American Pharmaceutical Association (now the American Pharmacists Association), 1967 Award for Excellence in Education (now called the J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education), American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry, 1983 Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science, Royal Society of Chemistry, 1984

Honorary degrees University of Chicago, 1955 University of Groningen, 1964

Kolthoff was inducted into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2014, the American Chemical Society named Kolthoff's contributions to modern analytical chemistry a National Historic Chemical Landmark.