Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 23, 2004|Volume 32, Number 27



BULLETIN HOME

VISITING ON CAMPUS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

IN THE NEWS

BULLETIN BOARD

CLASSIFIED ADS


SEARCH ARCHIVES

DEADLINES

DOWNLOAD FORMS

BULLETIN STAFF


PUBLIC AFFAIRS HOME

NEWS RELEASES

E-MAIL US


YALE HOME PAGE


Csaba Horváth



Engineer Csaba Horváth, a pioneer
in chromatography, dies

Csaba Horváth, the Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Chemical Engineering and a leading researcher in modern chromatography, which impacts almost all branches of science and technology, died on April 13 in New Haven.

He was 74 years old.

During his long and distinguished career, Professor Horváth was the first scientist to design, construct and show molecular separations using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC -- now called high-performance liquid chromatography), which has become a billion-dollar business and has led to many discoveries in the fields of medicine, biochemistry and biology. Used to separate and analyze proteins and nucleic acids, HPLC is an indispensable technology in the pharmaceutical industry for analysis and purification of molecules utilized in the treatment of illnesses such as heart disease, and circulatory and neurological disorders. Professor Horváth and his colleagues have also collaborated with researchers at the School of Medicine to create new chemical tests to identify differences in composition of cancer cells and normal cells.

In addition to advancing the evolution of HPLC, Professor Horváth studied electrophoretic separation techniques for biological substances and developed novel processes for ultra purification of proteins and the separation of complex carbohydrates. Along with this biochemical separation work, Professor Horváth was one of the pioneers in enzyme technology, particularly immobilized-enzyme reactors.

"Csaba was an inspirational researcher whose discoveries and high degree of professional excellence brought credit to Yale University for several decades," says Paul Fleury, dean of Yale Engineering. "His loyalty and dedication to his students was only matched by theirs to him. He was a colleague valued by his department and the rest of the Faculty of Engineering, but also by the entire Yale community. We are deeply saddened by his untimely passing and offer our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends."

Born in Hungary, Csaba Horváth was educated in Hungary and Germany and received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in 1963. Prior to that, he had worked for some years as a plant manager in Frankfurt. After obtaining his degree, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital associated with Harvard University.

He was a research associate at Yale School of Medicine 1964-1970 and was appointed associate professor of engineering and applied science in 1972. He became professor in 1979 and was chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering 1987-1993. During that time, he was also named the Llewellyn West Jones Professor of Chemical Engineering and in 1998 the Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Chemical Engineering.

Professor Horváth's many discoveries and developments helped revolutionize research in biology and biotechnology. He was among the leaders informing the new field of bioengineering and was a founding fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineers. This field is now a separate section of the National Academy of Engineering, an institution to which Professor Horváth was elected this year.

Professor Horváth received numerous international awards. A partial list of his honors include the Tswett Award from the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, the Humboldt Award for U.S. Senior Scientists, numerous recognitions from the American Chemical Society, the Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health and a gold medal from the Chromatography Society of the United Kingdom. Just last year, the Yale chemical engineer received the Torbern Bergman Medal from the Swedish Chemical Society.

A prolific researcher, Professor Horváth served on the boards of many prestigious journals, authored or co-authored nearly 300 papers and book chapters, and held numerous patents under his name. He served on numerous review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and was a member of many professional organizations, such as the American Chemical Society, the Institute of Food Technologies and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

He is survived by his former wife, Valeria Scioscioli; two children, Donatella of New York City and Katalin of London, England; and a sister, Tunde Pungor.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 8, at Battell Chapel, corner of Elm and College streets. The reception will be at noon at the New Haven Lawn Club, 193 Whitney Ave.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Csaba Horváth Memorial Fund, c/o Department of Chemical Engineering, Yale University, P.O. Box 208286, New Haven, CT 06520-8286.


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Study shows how brain unconsciously processes images

Freshman cartoonist illustrates Washington Post column

Al Gore decries 'collision' between civilization and the environment

Carlos Fuentes calls for changes to close gap . . .

Panel: Respect is key to proper treatment of those with disabilities

Making Web pages accessible to all

Horwich honored for work on protein folding

'There's right on both sides' of civil liberties debate, journalist says

Play by Drama School graduate to close Yale Rep season

Americans, Europeans to debate right to intervene in Iraq

Study: Early instruction can change the brains of reading-disabled youths

U.S. poet laureate to give reading of her new work

Columnist to discuss why press failed on 9/11 and Iraq

New research on human conflict is focus of international conference

A Day of Community, a Day of Culture

Engineer Csaba Horváth, a pioneer in chromatography, dies

Mary Louise Brewster, widow of former Yale president, dies

Service, symposium to honor scientist Robert Macnab

Conference to explore work in the field of American Indian studies

Symposium will re-examine seminal essay by . . . Robert Cover

ITS support specialist to perform in 'Hamlet'


Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News

Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines

Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases| E-Mail Us|Yale Home