Theodore Kuwana Explained

Known For:	Spectroelectrochemistry
Children:	One son, one daughter, and four granddaughters
Honorific Suffix:	Emeritus Distinguished Professor and Regents Distinguished Professor
Birth Date:	August 3, 1931
Death Place:	Seattle, Washington
Other Names:	Known to his students as "TK"
Birth Place:	Idaho Falls, Idaho
Occupation:	Scientific researcher, chemistry professor
Education:	B.S. Antioch College, 1954 M.S. Cornell University, 1956 Ph.D. University of Kansas, 1959
Workplaces:	California Institute of Technology University of California, Riverside Case Institute of Technology Ohio State University University of Kansas
Thesis Title:	Studies in Electroanalytical Chemistry: The Development of a Mercury Chloride Film Anode and Chronopotentiometric Studies in Aqueous and Non-aqueous Solutions.
Thesis Year:	1959
Doctoral Advisor:	Ralph N. Adams
Theodore (Ted) Kuwana

Theodore Kuwana (1931–2022) was a chemist and academic researcher known as the founding father of the field of spectroelectrochemistry.

Kuwana's academic career included appointments at California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Riverside, Case Institute of Technology, 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 Emeritus Distinguished Professor. He served as managing director of the Analytical Sciences Digital Library.

During his career, Kuwana mentored more than 70 graduate students.

Early life and education

Theodore Kuwana, a son of Japanese immigrant (Issei) parents Yoshino and Nenokichi Kuwana, was born August 3, 1931, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the United States.^{[1] [2]}

Kuwana 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."^[3] His interest in chemistry started while he was in elementary school, when he was given a Gilbert chemistry set one Christmas. In high school he won the Bausch & Lomb Medal for Excellence in chemistry.

Kuwana's baccalaureate degree in 1954 was from Antioch College where with R.G. Yalman he published his first research article in a major journal.^[4] 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.^[5]

In 1965, Kuwana wed Jane Bader.^[6] Because she understood the chemistry and was also a talented writer and editor, she edited his writings. The couple had a son, a daughter, and four granddaughters.

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.^[7] He became an associate professor at Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University) 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.^[8]

Kuwana is recognized as the founding father of spectroelectrochemistry:^{[9] [10]}

Describing Kuwana's "profound impact on analytical chemistry education", Wenzel, et al., wrote that Kuwana set up a series of workshops with industrial leaders to evaluate the undergraduate analytical sciences curriculum and design improvements. The main recommendation from the 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."^[11]

The workshop participants also recommended a digital library of resources and links to resources for instructors designing problem-based learning for lectures and laboratories. Kuwana partnered with the American Chemical Society, Division of Analytical Chemistry, to set up a partnership for educational outreach. The Analytical Sciences Digital Library (ASDL) was formed, and it was supported with funding from the National Science Foundation. Kuwana served as managing director. Editor Cynthia Larive acknowledged "the leadership and continued contributions of Professor Emeritus Ted Kuwana, University of Kansas, to the development and continued evolution of the ASDL project".^[12]

According to Richard L. McCreery, "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."^[13] Over his career, Kuwana advised and mentored 73 graduate students.^[14]

Kuwana died of pneumonia in Seattle on January 1, 2022, at age 90 years.

Selected publications

Articles

• Kuwana . Theodore. . Darlington . R. K. . Leedy . D. W. . 1964-09-01 . Electrochemical Studies Using Conducting Glass Indicator Electrodes. . Analytical Chemistry . en . 36 . 10 . 2023–2025 . 10.1021/ac60216a003 . 0003-2700.
• Hansen . W. N. . Osteryoung . R. A. . Kuwana . Theodore . March 1966 . Internal Reflection Spectroscopic Observation of Electrode-Solution Interface . Journal of the American Chemical Society . en . 88 . 5 . 1062–1063 . 10.1021/ja00957a040 . 0002-7863.
• Hansen . Wilford Nels. . Kuwana . Theodore. . Osteryoung . Robert A. . 1966-12-01 . Observation of electrode-solution interface by means of internal reflection spectrometry . Analytical Chemistry . en . 38 . 13 . 1810–1821 . 10.1021/ac50155a035 . 0003-2700.
• Kuwana . Theodore . Bublitz . Donald E. . Hoh . George . Nov 1960 . Chronopotentiometric Studies on the Oxidation of Ferrocene, Ruthenocene, Osmocene and Some of their Derivatives 1 . Journal of the American Chemical Society . en . 82 . 22 . 5811–5817 . 10.1021/ja01507a011 . 0002-7863.
• Hawkridge . Fred M. . Kuwana . Theodore. . 1973-06-01 . Indirect coulometric titration of biological electron transport components . Analytical Chemistry . en . 45 . 7 . 1021–1027 . 10.1021/ac60329a038 . 4356378 . 0003-2700.
• Lin . Albert W. C. . Armstrong . Neal R. . Kuwana . Theodore. . 1977-07-01 . X-ray photoelectron/Auger electron spectroscopic studies of tin and indium metal foils and oxides . Analytical Chemistry . en . 49 . 8 . 1228–1235 . 10.1021/ac50016a042 . 0003-2700.
• Yeh . Peter . Kuwana . Theodore . 1977-10-05 . Reversible Electrode Reaction of Cytichrome C . Chemistry Letters . en . 6 . 10 . 1145–1148 . 10.1246/cl.1977.1145 . 0366-7022.
• Tse . Daniel Chi-Sing. . Kuwana . Theodore. . 1978-08-01 . Electrocatalysis of dihydronicotinamide adenosine diphosphate with quinones and modified quinone electrodes . Analytical Chemistry . en . 50 . 9 . 1315–1318 . 10.1021/ac50031a030 . 0003-2700.
• Jaegfeldt . Hans . Kuwana . Theodore . Johansson . Gillis . Apr 1983 . Electrochemical stability of catechols with a pyrene side chain strongly adsorbed on graphite electrodes for catalytic oxidation of dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide . Journal of the American Chemical Society . en . 105 . 7 . 1805–1814 . 10.1021/ja00345a021 . 0002-7863.
• Hu . Ing-Feng . Karweik . Dale H. . Kuwana . Theodore . 1985-06-25 . Activation and deactivation of glassy carbon electrodes . Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry . en . 188 . 1 . 59–72 . 10.1016/S0022-0728(85)80050-4 . 0022-0728 .
• Fagan . Dan T. . Hu . Ing Feng. . Kuwana . Theodore. . 1985-12-01 . Vacuum heat-treatment for activation of glassy carbon electrodes . Analytical Chemistry . en . 57 . 14 . 2759–2763 . 10.1021/ac00291a006 . 0003-2700.
• Kost . Kent M. . Bartak . Duane E. . Kazee . Beth. . Kuwana . Theodore. . 1988-11-01 . Electrodeposition of platinum microparticles into polyaniline films with electrocatalytic applications . Analytical Chemistry . en . 60 . 21 . 2379–2384 . 10.1021/ac00172a012 . 0003-2700.
• Marioli . Juan M. . Kuwana . Theodore . 1992-06-01 . Electrochemical characterization of carbohydrate oxidation at copper electrodes . Electrochimica Acta . en . 37 . 7 . 1187–1197 . 10.1016/0013-4686(92)85055-P . 0013-4686.

Books

• Book: 1978 . Academic Press . 978-0124332553 . Kuwana . Physical Methods in Modern Chemical Analysis . T. . 1 . 10.1021/ed057pA58.2 . 0021-9584.
• Book: Physical Methods in Modern Chemical Analysis . Elsevier . 2012 . 978-0124312968 . Kuwana . T. . 2.

Patents

• Method for oxidation of and element in both compartments of and electrolytic cell, (1984).^[15]
• Electrodes for use in electrocatalytic processes, (1985).^[16]
• Electrochemical detector for liquid chromatographic analysis of carbohydrates, (1991).^[17]

Awards and honors

• Fellow, American Chemical Society (2011)^[18]
• American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry, J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education (2004)^[19]
• NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award (2002)^[20]
• American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry (1995)^[21]
• The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry Honorary Membership and Medal (1991)
• Society of Electroanalytical Chemists C.N. Reilly Award (1989)^[22]
• 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."^[23]
• The Kuwana & Sawyer Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry Fund has been established to finance scholarships at the University of California, Riverside, for undergraduates "conducting research or studies in analytical chemistry, with preference to those pursuing the field of electrochemistry".^[24]

See also

• Electroanalytical methods
• Electrochemistry
• Spectroscopy

External links

• Official website (archived)
• A. C. Gilbert Heritage Society (Heritage of Gilbert Chemistry Sets, from "the 1910s through the 1960s")
• The Analytical Sciences Digital Library
• Chemistry Tree - Theodore Kuwana Family Tree
• Theodore Kuwana - Publications via Chemistry Family Tree
• Theodore Kuwana - Publications via Google Scholar

Notes and References

1. Web site: April 23, 1940 . 1940 United States Federal Census . subscription . May 10, 2023 . ancestry.com.
2. Web site: Remembering the life of Theodore Kuwana, PhD . 2023-05-10 . obituaries.seattletimes.com . en.
3. Kuwana . Ted . Kuwana . Jane . Dec 2022 . A path of luck and light . Electroanalysis . en . 34 . 12 . 1821–1822 . 10.1002/elan.202200008 . 1040-0397. free .
4. Yalman . Richard G. . Kuwana . Theodore . Apr 1955 . Properties of Acidocobaltammines. III. cis-Nitritotetrammines . The Journal of Physical Chemistry . en . 59 . 4 . 298–300 . 10.1021/j150526a005 . 0022-3654.
5. Web site: 1959 . T Kuwana - 1959 - University of Kansas, Chemistry . 2023-05-10 . scholar.google.com.
6. News: August 2, 1965 . Miss Jane Bader is Bride of Mr. Kuwana . 5 . . 2023-05-10 . Newspapers.com.
7. Web site: Emeritus Distinguished Professor Theodore Ted Kuwana: August 3, 1931 - January 1, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . chem.ku.edu . January 24, 2022 . en.
8. Web site: Former OSU Professor, Founding Father of Spectroelectrochemistry, Ted Kuwana Passed Away Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry . 2023-05-10 . chemistry.osu.edu . en.
9. Heineman . William R. . Winograd . Nicholas . Jensen . William B. . Dec 2022 . Spectroelectrochemistry Using Optically Transparent Electrodes – Ted Kuwana and the Early Years . Electroanalysis . en . 34 . 12 . 1826–1833 . 10.1002/elan.202100493 . 240601492 . 1040-0397 .
10. Wilson . George S. . Dec 2022 . Spectroelectrochemistry of Proteins . Electroanalysis . en . 34 . 12 . 1834–1841 . 10.1002/elan.202100535 . 243840919 . 1040-0397.
11. Wenzel . Thomas J. . Kelly . Richard S. . Larive . Cynthia K. . Gross . Erin M. . Dec 2022 . Contributions of Ted Kuwana to Analytical Sciences Education . Electroanalysis . en . 34 . 12 . 1823–1825 . 10.1002/elan.202100250 . 237841844 . 1040-0397. free .
12. Larive . Cynthia K. . 2009 . The Analytical Sciences Digital Library (ASDL) . Anal Bioanal Chem . 395 . 8 . 2425–2429 . 10.1007/s00216-009-3226-6. 37541802 . 2780681 .
13. McCreery . Richard L. . Dec 2022 . Ted Kuwana as a Senior Colleague, Mentor and Scientific Leader . Electroanalysis . en . 34 . 12 . 1842–1843 . 10.1002/elan.202100538 . 241739370 . 1040-0397.
14. Web site: Chemistry Tree Children - Theodore Kuwana . 2023-05-11 . academictree.org.
15. 4487669. Method for oxidation of and element in both compartments of and electrolytic cell. US. 1984-12-11. Koppers Co., Inc.. Kuwana. Theodore.
16. 4541905. Electrodes for use in electrocatalytic processes. Kuwana. Theodore. Kao. Wen-Hong. US. 1985-09-17. The Ohio State University Research Foundation.
17. 5031449. Electrochemical detector for liquid chromatographic analysis of carbohydrates. US. 1991-07-16. Shimadzu Corp.. Kuwana. Theodore. Marioli. Juan. Zadeii. Javad.
18. Web site: ACS Fellows . 2023-05-11 . American Chemical Society . en.
19. Web site: 2019-04-04 . The J. Calvin Giddings Award for Excellence in Education . 2023-05-12 . ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry . en-US.
20. Web site: Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) . 2023-05-12 . National Science Foundation.
21. Web site: 2019-04-04 . Electrochemistry . 2023-05-12 . ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry . en-US.
22. Web site: Charles N. Reilley Award – The Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry . 2023-05-12 . en-US.
23. Dec 12, 2022 . Electroanalysis: Dedicated to the Memory of Theodore "TK" Kuwana . Electroanalysis. 34 . 12 . elan.202281201 . 10.1002/elan.202281201 .
24. Web site: Kuwana & Sawyer Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry Fund . 2023-05-11 . Foundation Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards . en.