John C. Bailar, Jr.

John Christian Bailar, Jr. (1904-1991) was Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1924 to 1972. He received his B.A. at the University of Colorado and his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. At Illinois he developed an active research program on coordination chemistry, and he is referred to as the “Father of Coordination Chemistry in the United States,” since prior to his time, this area of chemistry received little attention in the U.S. [Kauffman, G. B.; Girolami, G. S.; Busch, D. H. "John C. Bailar, Jr. (1904-1991): Father of Coordination Chemistry in the United States," Coordination Chemistry Reviews 1993, volume 128, p. 1ff.] He helped found the book series Inorganic Syntheses and the journal Inorganic Chemistry.

His work was widely recognized culminating with the Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society, an organization for which he was also president.

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