William B. Jensen

William Barry Jensen (March 25, 1948 – November 2, 2024) was an American chemist and chemical historian.

Jensen, son of a sign painter and librarian, was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He went to school in Wausau, Wisconsin. He became interested in chemistry at an early age and, after reading Discovery of the Elements by Mary Elvira Weeks, he also became interested in the history of chemistry. In 2013, Jensen wrote Memoirs of an Amateur Chemist: Growing up a Science Nerd in the 1960s, an autobiography detailing his earliest memories, such as receiving his first chemistry kit, collecting pieces of glassware, and winning science fairs. These memoirs were published electronically by the Oesper Collections in 2024 and can be found here: https://hdl.handle.net/2374.UC/768605

Jensen studied chemistry at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, taking a bachelor's degree in 1970, a master's degree in 1972 and a doctorate in inorganic chemistry in 1982. He was then appointed assistant professor of inorganic chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1983 to 1986, before becoming Oesper Professor of the History of Chemistry and Chemistry Education at the University of Cincinnati. He was also a caricaturist for MeasureNet Technology Ltd. In 2010, Jensen published a book of his caricatures of famous scientists which the Oesper Collections published digitally in 2024. Chymists: That strange class of mortals: Caricatures of famous chemists with a few physicists and biologists added, can be found here: https://hdl.handle.net/2374.UC/768601

In 1982, an influential article by Jensen appeared in the Journal of Chemical Education, suggesting that group 3 in the periodic table should contain lutetium and lawrencium instead of lanthanum and actinium. This question has been much debated in the literature. Jensen was a member of a 2015–2021 IUPAC project to decide on the composition of group 3, chaired by Eric Scerri; so far it has produced a provisional report (written by Scerri), which was in support of Jensen's 1982 conclusion.

Jensen's books published by the Oesper Collections can be found here: https://hdl.handle.net/2374.UC/768600 and include books on the origins of the chemistry community in Cincinnati, OH, titles previously mentioned, and his beloved history of chemistry textbook, Philosophers of Fire.

Jensen died on November 2, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 76.

Selected publications