In Memory of our friend and colleague...

Ronald J. Baumgarten

Ronald Baumgarten, 72, associate professor emeritus of chemistry and winner of nine Silver Circle teaching awards, died Jan. 29 in Evanston after an illness.

“He brought a passion for making chemistry relevant to his students and their interests,” said colleague Richard Burns, associate professor of chemistry.

“He showed the unusual ability to listen to his students, to understand their thinking and to make chemistry an important and interesting part of their education.”

Baumgarten joined UIC in 1965 as assistant professor of chemistry, where he began the program in organic chemistry. Although he retired from full-time teaching in 1999, he continued to teach occasionally and was awarded another Silver Circle from graduating seniors in 2001. He was scheduled to teach this semester until he learned of his illness last fall.

“I very much enjoy the interaction with students and there are so many very, very excellent students on this campus,” he said in the April 25, 2001, UIC News.

Baumgarten and another retired chemistry professor, Clifford Matthews, are tied for the record of most Silver Circles awarded during their UIC careers.

“He was a charismatic lecturer who was vastly popular with students,” said Robert Moriarty, professor emeritus of chemistry.

“He stands out as the teacher that students remember decades later.”

Baumgarten, who encouraged his students to call him “R.J.B.” because “Professor Baumgarten is too long,” taught freshman, organic, environmental and honors chemistry and natural sciences for majors and nonmajors, along with a graduate lecture course.

An early supporter of the campus celebration of Earth Day, he was an Honors College adviser and adviser to several student groups.

Many of Baumgarten’s doctoral students went on to important positions in contemporary medicine and academia, Moriarty said.

“Although his research output decreased as he increasingly found greater fulfillment in teaching, he achieved something that researchers in our field aspire to: having a chemical reaction named after themselves,” Moriarty added, referring to the Baumgarten Reaction, a process he developed that is used widely in industry and referred to in chemistry literature.

Baumgarten earned a bachelor’s from Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, with post-doctoral work at Indiana and Brandeis universities.

A memorial service will be held March 9 at 2 p.m. in the Allice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston. Contributions in his memory can be made to the Ronald J. Baumgarten (RJB) Scholarship Award, UIC Department of Chemistry, M/C 111, 845 W. Taylor St., Chicago, Ill., 60607.

“He was a model teacher, an inspiration to his colleagues, and we will miss him,” Burns said.

View Guestbook

Add to Guestbook

Chemistry Home