Professor Witold Wacławek, founder and President of the Society of Ecological Chemistry and Engineering died

Witold Wacławek was born in 21 January 1938 in Warszawa. Already in 1959, while still being a student of the fifth year of the Faculty of Chemistry (Warsaw University of Technology), he began research work at the Warsaw Institute of Organic Chemistry. He had obtained MSc title in 1960 at the Faculty of Chemistry (Warsaw University of Technology), under Professor Stefan Chwaliński supervision. Five years later – in 1965 – at the same department he received his PhD degree under the supervision of Professor Józef Hurwic. The doctoral dissertation was awarded with the third degree Polish Chemical Society Prize. Over the next eight years, he has obtained a habilitation title. In 1985, while working as an employee of the Pedagogical University in Opole he became a professor.

At University of Opole he was a Vice-Rector of scientific research from 1984 to 1990. He was also for some time the Deputy Director of the Institute of Chemistry of the Pedagogical University in Opole, and in the years 1996-1999 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry (University of Opole). From 1983, he presided the Opole’s department of Polish Chemical Society. In 1986, he was the main organizer of the Polish Chemical Society Congress held in Opole. In 1999 he became a member of the Chemistry Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

He is also a founder and the first Editor-in-Chief of four scientific journals: Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S (ECE S), Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology (CDEM), Ecological Chemistry and Engineering A (ECE A) and Proceedings of ECOpole (PECO) – three of them are on the Philadelphia List, and ECE S currently has IF = 1.467.

He also founded an ecological conference: Central European Conference ECOpole, which has already been held 28 times. Outstanding scientists from around the world were its Keynote Speakers including three Nobel Prize Winners: Professor Paul Crutzen (2011), Professor Gerhard Ertl (2014), Sir Harold Kroto (2017).

He was supervisor of 14 PhD students.

He conducted research on intermolecular interactions and on the electrical and thermoelectrical properties of organic semiconductors.

Since the early nineties, he is focusing on the area of ​environmental ​chemistry (and engineering), primarily on the treatment of heavy metals in the environment and acid-base reactions in wastewaters and natural systems. In addition, he conducted research in the field of teaching and history of chemistry. One of the outcome of this work is a book published in 2002: 110 European Founders of Chemistry co-written with his wife Professor Maria Ząbkowska-Wacławek. Extended version of the book was translated in 2007 into Ukrainian. In total, he has authored or co-authored nearly 200 publications.

He will remain in our memory as a friendly man for employees and students.

Holy Mass for Professor Witold Wacławek was celebrated on January 24th, 2020 at 14:00 in the new cemetery chapel Opole-Połwieś, after which he was led to his final resting place.