Scientific genealogy
Four advisor lines from chemical engineering, applied mathematics, biomedical engineering, and chemical physics
Davis · 13 gen → Rouelle 1725
Scriven · 12 gen → Ferrner 1751
Hammer · 11 gen → Göttling 1782
MS · 11 gen → Berzelius ~1820
4 Nobel Prizes · 14+ NAS/NAE
Yakov Kutsovsky, PhD
Former CTO & CSO, Cabot · Co-founder & Board Director, Group1 · Founder, MateriaX
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
H. Ted Davis · CEMS
L.E. "Skip" Scriven · CEMS
Bruce Hammer · Radiology/BME
Yuri Aristov · MS · Novosibirsk
Davis Line
Gen 1 · Yakov's advisor
H. Ted Davis
1937–2009
Regents Prof. & Head CEMS 1980–95; Dean IT 1995–2005, U. Minnesota; statistical mechanics, porous media, amphiphilic systems
PhD Chemistry · U. Chicago · 1962
NAE 1988
Postdoc Brussels 1962–63 (not PhD)
Ilya Prigogine
1917–2003 · Free Univ. Brussels
Dissipative structures & irreversible thermodynamics; Solvay Institute director
PhD · ULB Brussels · 1941
Nobel Chem. 1977
Prigogine's PhD advisor
Théophile de Donder
1872–1957 · ULB Brussels
Father of irreversible thermodynamics; coined "affinity"; Belgian Royal Acad.
PhD · ULB Brussels · 1899
PhD advisor
Gen 2
Stuart A. Rice
1932–2024
Frank P. Hixon Dist. Prof., U. Chicago; statistical mechanics; 100+ PhD students
PhD Chemistry · Harvard · 1955
NASNatl Medal of Sci.Wolf Prize 1984
PhD advisor
Gen 3
Paul M. Doty
1920–2011
Mallinckrodt Prof. Biochemistry, Harvard; DNA helix-coil transitions; JFK arms-control advisor
PhD Chemistry · Columbia · 1944
NAS
PhD advisor
Gen 4
Joseph E. Mayer
1904–1983
Prof. UC San Diego; Mayer cluster expansion; equation of state statistical mechanics
PhD Chemistry · UC Berkeley · 1927
NAS
PhD advisor
Gen 5
Gilbert N. Lewis
1875–1946
Dean Chemistry UC Berkeley; covalent bond electron-pair theory; Lewis acid-base; coined "photon"; 35× Nobel-nominated
PhD Chemistry · Harvard · 1899
NAS 1913
PhD advisor
Gen 6
Theodore W. Richards
1868–1928
Prof. Harvard; precise atomic weights; first American Nobel in Chemistry
PhD Chemistry · Harvard · 1888
Nobel Chem. 1914NAS
academic supervisor
Gen 7
Josiah P. Cooke Jr.
1827–1894
Erving Prof. Harvard; founder of modern chemical education USA; studied under Liebig at Giessen; also studied under Regnault, Paris
Harvard AB 1848; no formal PhD
NAS Founding 1863
studied under
Gen 8 · Cooke's postdoc host (also → Liebig convergence)
Viktor Meyer
1848–1897
Prof. Heidelberg; thiophene; stereochemistry; Richards' postdoc host; student of Bunsen
PhD · Heidelberg · under Bunsen
PhD advisor
Gen 9
Robert Bunsen
1811–1899
Prof. Heidelberg; spectroscopy; Bunsen burner; discovered Cs & Rb; trained 50+ major chemists
PhD · Göttingen · 1830
Royal Society Foreign Mbr.
PhD advisor
Gen 10
Johann Friedrich Gmelin
1748–1804
Prof. Chemistry & Botany, Göttingen; Bunsen's PhD advisor; encyclopedic naturalist
PhD/MD · Göttingen & Tübingen
father & mentor
Gen 11
Philipp Friedrich Gmelin
1721–1768
Prof. Botany & Chemistry, Tübingen; third generation of the Gmelin chemical dynasty
Prof. Tübingen from 1749
trained under
Gen 12
Guillaume-François Rouelle
1703–1770
Apothecary & lecturer, Paris; coined "base" in chemistry (1754); trained Lavoisier, Fourcroy, Dumas; Gmelin attended his Paris lectures
Apothecary 1725; no formal PhD
students of Rouelle
Gen 13 · Terminal Nodes
Antoine Lavoisier
1743–1794
Father of modern chemistry; named oxygen; law of conservation of mass; French Academy of Sciences
LLB Paris 1764; Rouelle's student
French Academy
A.F. de Fourcroy
1755–1809
Prof. Paris; Rouelle's student; trained Vauquelin; Fourcroy → Vauquelin → Stromeyer side chain
MD 1780, Paris
Scriven Line
Gen 1 · Yakov's advisor
L.E. "Skip" Scriven
1931–2007
Regents Prof. CEMS, U. Minnesota; coating flows, interfacial phenomena, microstructure formation; co-authored with Levich / PCH
PhD ChemE · U. Delaware · 1956
NAE 1978NAS
PhD advisor
Gen 2
Robert L. Pigford
1917–1988
Prof. & Head, U. Delaware; founder of rigorous mass-transfer engineering in USA
PhD ChemE · U. Illinois · 1942
NAS 1972NAE 1971
PhD advisor
Gen 3
Henry F. Johnstone
1896–1955
Prof. U. Illinois; gas absorption & aerosol science pioneer; air pollution control
PhD Chemistry · U. Iowa · 1926
PhD advisor
Gen 4 · Resolved ✓
James Newton Pearce
1873–1936
Prof. Physical Chemistry, U. Iowa; co-authored with Johnstone 1930 on adsorption of vapors; confirmed via Iowa Acad. Sci. obituary
PhD Chemistry · Johns Hopkins · 1907
PhD advisor
Gen 5
Harry Clary Jones
1865–1916
Prof. Physical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins; solution theory; postdoc under Ostwald, Arrhenius & van't Hoff
PhD · Johns Hopkins · 1892
PhD advisor
Gen 6
Harmon N. Morse
1848–1920
Prof. Johns Hopkins; osmotic pressure pioneer; built JHU chemistry department
PhD · Göttingen · 1875
NAS
PhD advisor
Gen 7
Hans Hübner
1837–1884
Prof. Organic Chemistry, Göttingen; Wöhler's successor; diazonium chemistry
PhD · Göttingen · 1860
PhD advisor
Gen 8
Friedrich Wöhler
1800–1882
Prof. Göttingen; synthesized urea in 1828, marking the birth of organic chemistry; isolated Al, Be, Si, and Ti; trained ~8,000 students; apprenticed under Berzelius in Stockholm
MD Heidelberg 1823
Royal Soc. For. Mbr.
mentor / apprenticeship
Gen 9
Jöns Jacob Berzelius
1779–1848
Stockholm; co-founder modern chemistry; discovered Se, Si, Ti, Th, Ce; invented chemical symbol notation; Wöhler's Stockholm mentor
MD · Uppsala · 1802
Royal Swedish Acad. Founding
academic mentor
Gen 10
Johan Afzelius
1753–1837
Prof. Chemistry & Pharmacy, Uppsala; Berzelius's chemical mentor; Royal Swedish Academy
Uppsala · MS 1776
academic supervisor
Gen 11
Torbern Bergman
1735–1784
Prof. Uppsala; founder of analytical chemistry; Dissertation on Elective Attractions (1775); 500+ publications
Uppsala · 1758
academic supervisor
Gen 12 · Terminal Verified Node
Bengt Ferrner
1724–1802
Prof. Astronomy & Mathematics, Uppsala; Bergman's supervisor; natural philosopher
Uppsala · 1751
Hammer Line
Gen 1 · Yakov's advisor
Bruce E. Hammer
b. 1952
Prof. Radiology (Emeritus), U. Minnesota; MRI/NMR hardware pioneer; CIA-MR founder; NASA magnetic levitation PI
PhD Biomedical Engineering · Northwestern · 1981
PhD advisor
Gen 2
Brian M. Hoffman
b. 1941
Morrison Prof. Chemistry, Northwestern; NMR/EPR of metalloproteins & enzymes; thesis topic match confirmed
PhD Chemistry · Caltech · 1966
NAS
PhD advisor
Gen 3 · Confirmed
Harden M. McConnell
1927–2014
Stauffer Prof. Chemistry, Stanford; founded biological NMR/EPR; Wolf Prize Chemistry
PhD Chemistry · Caltech · 1951
NASNatl Medal of Sci.
PhD advisor
Gen 4 · Caltech Oral History
Norman R. Davidson
1916–2002
Chandler Prof. Chemical Biology, Caltech; genome mapping pioneer; NAS 1960
PhD Chemistry · U. Chicago · 1941
NAS 1960Natl Medal 1996
PhD advisor
Gen 5 · NAS Memoir
Hermann I. Schlesinger
1882–1960
Prof. U. Chicago; discovered NaBH₄ & LiAlH₄; "Father of Rocket Fuel Chemistry"; Priestley Medal 1959
PhD Chemistry · U. Chicago · 1905
NAS 1948Priestley Medal 1959
PhD advisor
Gen 6 · Confirmed
Julius Oscar Stieglitz
1867–1937
Prof. & Chair Chemistry, U. Chicago 1892–1933; introduced physical organic chemistry to USA
PhD Chemistry · Berlin · 1889
NAS
PhD advisor
Gen 7 · Confirmed
Ferdinand Tiemann
1848–1899
Prof. Berlin; Reimer-Tiemann reaction (1876); first synthesis of vanillin; student of Hofmann
PhD · Berlin · ~1870
PhD advisor
Gen 8 · Confirmed
Aug. Wilhelm von Hofmann
1818–1892
Prof. Berlin & Royal College Chemistry London; aniline dye chemistry; Hofmann rearrangement; direct PhD under Liebig
PhD · Giessen · 1841 (under Liebig)
Royal Soc. For. Mbr.
PhD advisor
Gen 9 · ★ CONVERGENCE NODE
Justus von Liebig
1803–1873
Prof. Giessen & Munich; founded agricultural chemistry; invented the modern research lab; trained Hofmann (Hammer) AND Cooke studied here (Davis) ★
PhD · Erlangen · 1822 (under Kastner)
Royal Soc. For. Mbr. 1840Copley Medal 1840
PhD advisor
Gen 10 · Confirmed
Karl Wilhelm Kastner
1783–1857
Prof. Chemistry, Erlangen; Liebig's doctoral supervisor
PhD · Halle · ~1806
academic mentor
Gen 11 · Terminal Verified Node
J.F.A. Göttling
1755–1809
Prof. Chemistry, Jena; Kastner's mentor; early pneumatic & analytical chemistry
Jena · ~1782
MS line · Novosibirsk
Yakov's MS advisor
Yuri I. Aristov
MSc MIPT 1977 · PhD BIC 1984
BIC Lab chief, Novosibirsk; composite sorbents; adsorptive heat transformation; low-grade heat utilization; 300+ papers
PhD advisor
Gen 2
Valentin N. Parmon
1948– · PhD BIC/ICP 1975
Photocatalysis; solar energy conversion; BIC Director; Russia State Prize
RAS Academician
PhD advisor
Gen 3
Kirill I. Zamaraev
1939–1996 · PhD MIPT ~1966
ESR spectroscopy; electron-transfer catalysis; BIC Director; IUPAC Vice-President
RAS Academician
PhD advisor
Gen 4
V.V. Voevodsky
1917–1967 · Moscow State Univ.
Founded USSR ESR/EPR school; chemical kinetics gas phase; co-founded ICKC Novosibirsk
PhD advisor
Gen 5
Nikolay Semenov
1896–1986
Chain reaction theory; branched-chain combustion; ICP Moscow founder; first Soviet Nobel in Chemistry
Petrograd / Moscow · PhD 1926
Nobel Chem. 1956NAS
trained under
Gen 6
Abram F. Ioffe
1880–1960
"Father of Soviet Physics"; semiconductor physics; built Soviet physics research infrastructure; Ioffe Institute founder
PhD · Munich · 1905 (under Röntgen)
RAS Academician
PhD advisor
Gen 7
Wilhelm Röntgen
1845–1923
Discovered X-rays 1895; donated Nobel prize money; refused all patents; first Nobel Prize in Physics ever awarded
PhD · Zurich · 1869 (under Kundt)
Nobel Physics 1901
PhD advisor
Gen 8
August Kundt
1839–1894
Invented Kundt's tube; measured sound velocity in gases & solids; Prof. Würzburg, Strasbourg, Berlin
PhD · Berlin · 1864 (under Magnus)
PhD advisor
Gen 9
Heinrich Gustav Magnus
1802–1870
Magnus effect (aerodynamic lift on rotating bodies); gas absorption; postdoc with Berzelius & Gay-Lussac; Berlin natural science circle founder
PhD · Berlin · 1827 (under Mitscherlich)
PhD advisor
Gen 10
Eilhard Mitscherlich
1794–1863
Law of isomorphism (1819); crystallography; benzene derivatives; trained with Berzelius in Stockholm, connecting this line to the Scriven line
Berlin prof. 1822; trained under H.F. Link
mentor & Berzelius connection
Gen 11 · Terminal Node ★ Convergence
H.F. Link + Berzelius ★
Link 1767–1851 · Berzelius 1779–1848
Link: Berlin lab where Mitscherlich trained. Berzelius: Stockholm formal mentor to Mitscherlich AND Wöhler
★ Converges with Scriven PhD line at Berzelius (~1820)
MS Line Nobel count: 2
Semenov (Chem 1956) · Röntgen (Phys 1901)
Berzelius ★ = convergence w/ Scriven line (Gen 9)
Semenov (Chem 1956) · Röntgen (Phys 1901)
Berzelius ★ = convergence w/ Scriven line (Gen 9)