Memoir

Walter Kauzmann

Princeton University

August 18, 1916 - January 27, 2009


Scientific Discipline: Chemistry
Membership Type:
Member (elected 1964)

Walter Kauzmann was considered one of the two great thinkers about protein science in the 20th century (the other being Linus Pauling). Through insight and reasoning, Kauzmann hypothesized the overall organization of complex protein structures, based on what he called “the hydrophobic bond.” When the first protein structures were later revealed (in 1965), the discoverers called their findings “a remarkable vindication of the predictions of Kauzmann in 1959.” In addition to protein folding and the hydrophobic factor, he made major contributions to two other areas of chemistry: the theory and applications of circular dichroism (a valuable optical technique for studying protein structures); and the nature of the glassy state and the behavior of liquids at low temperatures.

Kauzmann received a bachelor’s degree in organic chemistry from Cornell University in 1937 and his PhD in physical chemistry from Princeton University in 1940. He worked for two years in Pittsburgh at the Westinghouse Corp., and then at the Bruceton (PA) Explosives Research Laboratory, which he left in 1944 for Los Alamos, NM, and the Manhattan Project. There he used his recently acquired knowledge of conventional explosives on the design of triggers for the atomic bomb. In 1946 Kauzmann was invited to join the physical-chemistry faculty at Princeton, where he succeeded his mentor Henry Eyring. Kauzmann spent the rest of his career at Princeton, a tenure punctuated by contributions to major laboratories around the world. Perhaps even more remarkable than his talent for research was Kauzmann’s apparent first priority of teaching, which gave him the pleasure of passing on the tools of physical chemistry to new generations of scientists.

Kauzmann grew up in New Rochelle, NY, a town near enough to New York City that he came to appreciate the wonders of that major metropolis. For example, he discovered symphonic music and opera there, which sparked a lifelong interest in music. He also was an avid outdoorsman, taking frequent hikes by himself in the Rocky Mountains or the Swiss Alps as well as numerous camping trips with his wife and children.

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