HISTORYThe Department of Chemistry’s legacy of outstanding scientific research is built on the foundation and growing legacy of many renowned researchers. Its buildings, Kolthoff Hall and Smith Hall, are named after two of its legends—Izaak Maurits Kolthoff and Lee Irvin Smith.

Smith Hall • Chemistry offered since 1870

• School of Chemistry established in 1904

• Chemistry Building built in 1913

❱ Cost $405,000

❱ One of the first university buildings in the United States devoted exclusively to chemistry

❱ Addition completed in 1922

❱ Renovated in 1984

• Iconic building on the Northrop Mall

• Renamed Smith Hall on June 2, 1972, after Professor Lee Irvin Smith

Smith Hall Construction, 1913

Izaak Maurits Kolthoff, 1894-1993• Considered the “father of modern analytical chemistry”

• By applying fundamental physical principles and insights, he transformed chemical analysis from a qualitative to a quantitative science

❱ Best known for developing a cold process recipe for synthetic rubber during World War II

❱ Scientific leadership is shown by his approximately 950 papers, several textbooks, and an array of influential monographs

• Professor of chemistry from 1927 to 1962

❱ Continued his research until his death

❱ Greatest legacy is the more than 1,100 doctorate chemists who can trace their academic lineage back to his laboratory

❱ Recipient of the American Chemical Society’s first Award for Excellence in Education in 1983

• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1958

• Posthumously inducted into the Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame in 2012

• Department of Chemistry honors Kolthoff’s legacy with the Kolthoff Lectureship in Chemistry

Lee Irvin Smith, 1891-1973• Joined the Chemistry Department in 1920

❱ Served as chief of the Division of Organic Chemistry from 1932 to 1958

• Specialized in synthetic organic chemistry

❱ Best known for extensive work on polymethylbenzenes, which led to the synthesis of vitamin E

• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944

• First recipient of the Minnesota Award in 1958 from the Minnesota Section of the American Chemical Society

❱ Retired in 1960

Kolthoff Hall• Construction started in 1968

• Completed in May 1971

❱ Seven-story

❱ 158,000-square-foot

❱ Featured four-person module laboratory spaces

• Two-year major renovation project began in 2006

❱ Expanded hood-intensive laboratory space

❱ Upgraded teaching laboratories

❱ Separated graduate student offices from the laboratories

• Dedicated on June 2, 1972, after Professor Izaak Maurits Kolthoff