Irving M. Klotz, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology at Northwestern, died April 27, at Evanston Hospital. He was 89.
Klotz began his career at NU in 1940, after graduating from University of Chicago in 1937. He was one of the first to bring physical biochemistry to NU.
He helped bridge the fields of biology and chemistry and helped create NU’s biochemistry department — later named the biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology department.
“He got his first job at NU and never left,” said his wife Mary Sue Hanlon Klotz.
His students and colleagues said Klotz was a valuable resource.
“He was not only knowledgeable, he knew everything about everything,” said Dan Vogt, an Ohio Wesleyan University professor who had Klotz as his doctoral school adviser.
Klotz was an expert in chemical thermodynamics. His research clarified how oxygen binds to the proteins that carry it to tissues, Mary Sue Hanlon Klotz said. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1968 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1970.
Klotz worked as a physical chemist during World War II and was involved in secret research on gas warfare that was a precursor to the Manhattan Project.
Klotz published more than 200 scientific articles and many books, including “Ligand-Receptor Energetics: A Guide for the Perplexed” and “Chemical Thermodynamics: Basic Theory and Methods.”
He also wrote books about more general scientific interests such as “Diamond Dealers and Feather Merchants: Tales from the Sciences” — about how great scientists have made wrong decisions and some great decisions have been unacknowledged.
Although Klotz retired in 1986, he still served as a member of NU’s faculty and was a mentor to his colleagues, said Paul Loach, an NU biochemistry professor.
“He was a gentleman and a scholar,” Loach said. “His advice and wisdom will be missed.”
Klotz, of Wilmette, is survived by his wife; two sons, Edward S. of Lake Tahoe, Calif., and David P. of Chicago; a daughter Audie of Syracuse, N.Y.; and a sister Harriet Meyer of Niles, Ill.
Reach Diana Scholl at [email protected].
