Ivano Bertini (1940–2012), Biological Inorganic Chemistry Pioneer, An Obituary-Tribute

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 18 (2013) pp 209-223
DOI 10.1007/s00897132499

Ivano Bertini (1940–2012), Biological Inorganic Chemistry Pioneer, An Obituary-Tribute

Harry B. Gray, Lucia Banci, Claudio Luchinat, Paola Turano, and George B. Kauffman*

Founding Director of the Beckman Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125,hbgray@caltech.edu;Director of CERM, Professor of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy,banci@cerm.unifi.it; President of CIRMMP, Professor of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy, luchinat@cerm.unifi.it; Associate Professor of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy, turano@cerm.unifi.it;Professor Emeritus of Chemistry,Department of Chemistry, California State University, Fresno, Fresno, CA 93740-8034, georgek@mail.fresnostate.edu

Published: 23 July 2013

Abstract. After a four-month battle with lung cancer, Ivano Bertini, Professor of Chemistry and the founder and soul of the Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM) at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy, where he was scientifically active until the end, died on July 7, 2012. A globally recognized pioneer in the field of biological inorganic chemistry, which he greatly enriched by developing powerful new NMR methods to study paramagnetic metalloproteins, he was immensely interested in the role of inorganic chemistry in biology. His influential 2007 book, Biological Inorganic Chemistry, introduced many young persons to the field. This article, co-authored with his closest collaborators, reviews his life, career, contributions, honors, and legacy.

Key Words: Chemistry and History; biography; European chemistry; Italian chemistry; biological inorganic chemistry; nuclear magnetic resonance; coordination chemistry; paramagnetic metalloproteins; enzymes; international consortia; biomedical applications; metabolomics; bioinformatics; information technology

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: georgek@mail.fresnostate.edu)

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