Walter Kauzmann
| Walter J. Kauzmann | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 18, 1916 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 2009 (aged 92) Montgomery, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Chemist |
| Institutions | Princeton University |
| Alma mater | Cornell University (B.A.), Princeton University (Ph.D.) |
| Doctoral advisor | Henry Eyring |
Walter J. Kauzmann (18 August 1916 – 27 January 2009) was an American chemist and professor emeritus of Princeton University. He was noted for his work in both physical chemistry and biochemistry. His most important contribution was recognizing that the hydrophobic effect plays a key role in determining the three-dimensional structure of proteins. He is also well known for an insight into the nature of supercooled liquids which is now known as Kauzmann's paradox. At Princeton, Kauzmann was the David B. Jones Professor Emeritus of Chemistry. He chaired the Department of Chemistry from 1964 to 1968 and the Department of Biochemical Sciences from 1980 to 1981.
He was born in Mount Vernon, New York and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He was the son of the German-born Albert F. Kauzmann, who came to the United States in 1895, and Julia (Kahle) Kauzmann. Albert operated a gem-importing business in Lower Manhattan and would often bring his son to work on Saturday mornings. They would spend the afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History or attend a matinee at the Metropolitan Opera, nurturing Walter's lifelong love of science and music.
Kauzmann earned a B.A. degree in 1937 from Cornell University, which he attended on a full scholarship. He started his doctoral work at Princeton University in organic chemistry, but switched to physical chemistry, earning a Ph.D. in 1940 under the direction of Henry Eyring. Following his Ph.D., Kauzmann had a two-year postdoctoral appointment in Pittsburgh as a Westinghouse Research Fellow, in the laboratory led by Edward U. Condon. It was during this period that Kauzmann wrote his now classic paper on supercooled liquids and glasses that contained the Kauzmann paradox. At the end of this fellowship, with the U.S. fighting WWII, Kauzmann joined the U.S. government's National Defense Research Council laboratory in Bruceton, Pennsylvania, which was directed by George Kistiakowsky, and worked on chemical explosives.
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