41st IUPAC Council Meeting
Nominee for Vice President
Prof. Hitoshi
Ohtaki (Japan)
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Prof. Hitoshi Ohtaki
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Education and Career: Prof. Ohtaki graduated from the Faculty
of Science, Nagoya University in 1955 and obtained M.Sc. and Dr.Sc.
degrees in 1957 and 1961, respectively, from Nagoya University. He studied
complex equilibria under Prof. L.G. Sillen, Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm, Sweden, as a Postdoctortal Research Fellow (1961 to 1964).
After graduate school, Prof. Ohtaki was appointed Research Associate,
Tokyo Institute of Technology (1959); Lecturer (1965) and then Associate
Professor (1967), Nagoya University; Associate Professor (1970) and
then Professor (1973), Tokyo Institute of Technology; Professor (1988)
of the Institute for Molecular Science of the Okazaki National Research
Institutes, Director of the Coordination Chemistry Laboratories of the
Institute for Molecular Science, and also Dean of the School of Mathematical
and Physical Science of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies.
He was named Emeritus Professor of the Tokyo Institute of Technology
and the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in 1993. He was appointed
a Professor at Ritsumeikan University in 1993 and Director of the Institute
of Science and Engineering at Ritsumeikan University in 1994. Over the
course of his career, Prof. Ohtaki has served as a visiting professor
in Sweden, Austria, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Awards: Prof. Ohtaki received the Matsunaga Prize in 1976, the
Tejima Memorial Award in 1989, the Takei Prize of the Electrochemical
Society of Japan in 1990, the National Medal of Purple Ribbon in 1995,
and the Prize for Scientific Merits of the Electrochemical Society of
Japan in 2000.
IUPAC Offices and Assignments: Prof. Ohtaki was a member of
the Commission on Equilibrium Data (V.6) of the Analytical Chemistry
Division of IUPAC from 1975 to 1993 (Associate Member, 1975-79; Titular
Member, 1979-85; Secretary, 1981-83; Chairman, 1983-85; National Representative,
1985-89; and Coopted Member of the Division 1989-93). He was also a
Member of the Inorganic Chemistry Division from 1987 to 1991. He is
currently a Bureau Member of IUPAC, as well as a Member of the Executive
Committee.
Related Professional Activities: Prof. Ohtaki was President
of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies from 1997-1999, was formerly
President of the Japanese Society of Coordination Chemistry, and also
previously served as President of the Association of Japanese Solution
Chemists, for which he is now an adviser. He is the Chairman of the
Committee for International Affairs of the Chemical Society of Japan.
Prof. Ohtaki organized the 6th International Symposium on Solute-Solute-Solvent
Interactions in 1982 at Minoo, Osaka, Japan. He was the Chairman of
the 2 nd and 4th Eurasia Conferences on Chemical Sciences held in Seoul,
Korea (1992) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1994), and, as Secretary General,
he organized the 30 th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry
held in Kyoto, Japan (1994). He was the representative of the Chemical
Society of Japan for the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies and
the Vice Chairman of the 1995 International Chemical Congress of Pacific
Basin Societies (PACIFICHEM’95). He was also Chairman of the 26th
International Symposium on Solution Chemistry that took place in Fukuoka,
Japan in July 1999. Most recently, he organized the International Symposium
on New Horizons of Coordination Chemistry Towards the 21st Century at
Kusatsu, Japan in September 2000.
Prof. Ohtaki is a member of the editorial boards of J. Molecular
Liquids, J. Solution Chemistry, J. Brazilian Chemical
Society, and J. Malaysian Chemical Society. He is a member
of the Science Council of Japan [President (2000-2003) and formerly
Vice President (1996-2000) of Division 4, Pure Science]. He was appointed
a professional member of the Council of Science and Technology of the
Japanese Government in December 2000.
Research Activities and Interests: Prof.
Ohtaki’s research interests cover various areas of solution chemistry
and coordination chemistry, especially structural chemistry of solutions,
including solvents, solvated ions, and complexes existing in solution
by means of solution X-ray diffraction. He has also employed EXAFS and
neutron diffraction methods in his investigations. He has undertaken
thermodynamic studies on solution equilibria; his molecular dynamics
simulation studies on dissolution and nucleation processes of crystals
have shed new light on the dynamic chemistry of ionic solvation and
crystal growth. Recently, his interests have focused on structural studies
of supercritical water and other liquids and solvation structures of
ions in supercritical fluids. He has been determining structures of
short-lived reaction intermediates by the stopped-flow- EXAFS method
newly developed by his group.
Prof. Ohtaki has published more than 300 research papers and reviews.
He has authored and coauthored 5 books and edited and coedited 3 more
books. Prof. Ohtaki has authored chapters in more than 17 books. His
book Chemistry of Reactions in Solutions has been translated
into Chinese. He has translated into Japanese books written by Prof.
Viktor Gutmann in Austria and by Prof. Kalman Burger in Hungary.
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to Election of Officers and Bureau Members
at 41st IUPAC Council Meeting
