I have to pass on some sad news to the department: I just learned that our long-time colleague Andrzej Wieckowski passed away yesterday. His family’s wish is to have the service and for him to be buried in Poland.
Andrzej was born in Łódź in 1945, and served on our faculty in the Analytical area from 1985 to his retirement in 2012. He was the editor for the North Americas of Electrochimica Acta, and winner of many awards in his field, such as the Electrochemical Society’s Graham Award and Gold Medal. His work, published in more than 300 papers, was centered on electrocatalysis and fuel cells studied by spectroscopic and radiochemical methods, an area that remains very active to this day. Andrzej was particularly known for his development of electrochemical NMR and for the many applications of the technique to interfacial electrochemical systems.
As a student in Poland, Andrzej stepped forward to take a highly visible leadership role in the Solidarity Movement at Warsaw University. The imposition of martial law in 1981 caused him to leave Poland and move to North America, first to Canada, then Santa Barbara, and finally to UIUC.
Speaking of Andrzej, former department head Larry Faulkner said, “With his whole life, Andrzej has shown commitment to freedom, truth, and professional integrity. These are fundamental values of science. Andrzej has lived them wonderfully successfully, because he is also a focused man of extraordinary courage.”
Martin Gruebele, Department Head