On August 4, 2017, Prof. Jerzy Suwiński, Ph.D., Eng., a highly regarded specialist in organic chemistry, organic reaction mechanisms, and spectroscopic techniques, passed away.

From 1961 to 2012, he was affiliated with the Faculty of Chemistry at the Silesian University of Technology. He held numerous administrative positions: head of the Department of Organic Chemistry (1990–2006), director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (1999–2002), Associate Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry (1984–1987), Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry (1990–1996 and 2002–2008), and member of the Senate (1990–2008).

Since 2012, he had been a researcher at the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CMPW PAN) in Zabrze. For many years, he served on the Scientific Council, first of the Center of Polymer Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1993–2002) and, most recently, of CMPW PAN (since 2005). He served as chair of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee. In this role, he drew on his vast experience while working diligently and conscientiously on behalf of the doctoral students.

Professor Suwiński was a lecturer and visiting professor at numerous foreign universities: University degli Studi di Bologna, Italy; University of Campinas, Brazil; Wysoka Technicka Skola, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia; “La Sapienza” University in Rome, Italy; the University of Rennes, IUT Lannion, and IUT Nantes, France; Northwest Missouri State University and other state universities in Missouri; the University of São Paulo, Brazil; Rio de Janeiro-Niterói; the University of Essen, Germany; and Utah State University, Logan, USA.

Professor Suwiński supervised 9 doctoral candidates, two of whom are full professors and one of whom holds a postdoctoral degree. He was the author and co-author of numerous scientific articles, academic and educational books, as well as patents. For his scientific and teaching activities, he was honored with state decorations: the Gold Cross of Merit, the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and the Medal of the National Education Commission.

Professor Suwiński actively participated in scientific and advisory bodies; he was a member of the Scientific Council not only of the Center for Polymer Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze, but also of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (1993–2005), and the Main Council for Higher Education (1999–2002).

He was an exceptionally upright man who always made time to listen to others’ opinions. We will remember him as a kind colleague and an extraordinarily hard-working individual with great teaching talent, deeply committed to the academic community.