Sachtler, W. M. H., 1924-2017
Dates
- Existence: 1924 - 2017
Biography
Wolfgang M. H. Sachtler, professor of chemical and biological engineering and chemistry at Northwestern University, was born in 1924 in Delitzsch, Germany, and received his PhD from the University of Braunschweig in 1952. Sachtler was a pioneer in catalysis research, which he began in 1949 in post-war Germany.
This pioneering work eventually led Sachtler to Shell Research Laboratories in Amsterdam, where he served as director of fundamental research. During his time there, he and his team introduced the oil industry to novel bimetallic catalysts, which could achieve higher selectivity and better energy efficiency. His concept of the critical “ensemble size” was also applied to areas such as selective oxidation and catalysis by sulfides. After devoting more than three decades to fundamental research at Shell and the National University of Leiden, Sachtler joined Northwestern University as the third Vladimir Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry. He also became the first director of Northwestern’s Center for Catalysis and Surface Science. At Northwestern, he focused on zeolite-based catalysts. Toward the end of his scientific career Sachtler shifted his focus to using catalysis to clean up the environment, making significant contributions to the discovery and understanding of catalysts that remove smog-generating pollutants from vehicle exhaust.
Sachtler’s work was recognized with the E. V. Murphree Award and the Petroleum Chemistry Award of the American Chemical Society, the Eugène Houdry Award of the North American Catalysis Society, the Rideal Lectureship Award of Faraday Div. Royal. Chem. Soc., R.L. Burwell Lectureship Award of North American Catalysis Society, François Gault Lectureship Award of European Fed. of Catalysis Societies, and other awards. Sachtler was also a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. He died January 8, 2017.