Norman C. Baenziger, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, passed away on December 1, 2010 at age 88. After graduating from high school in Wells, MN, he attended Hamline University where he majored in chemistry with physics and mathematics minors; he graduated summa cum laude in 1943. He then began graduate work at Iowa State University as a research assistant in projects funded by the Manhattan Project. After completion of his PhD work in physical chemistry and chemical physics, he was a fellow in chemical physics at Mellon Institute in 1948-49.

He joined the faculty at the University of Iowa in 1949 as an Assistant Professor of Metallurgy, was promoted to Associate Professor after one year and to Professor of Chemistry in 1957. He retired in 1992 when mandatory retirement at age 70 was still in effect. His primary research interests involved the determinations of crystal and molecular structures by x-ray crystallography, and he published numerous papers in metallurgy, inorganic and organic chemistry and solid-state physics in addition to some major contributions to improvements in crystallographic methodology. His early work involved the structures of compounds of uranium and rare earth metals, and he reported the structures of dozens of intermetallic compounds as well as oxides, carbides and nitrides of those metals. He then turned to the determinations of the structures of organometallic compounds, an area that required much more extensive computations. This led him to become one of the first computer users on the campus with an early vacuum-tube-containing model in his laboratory in the late 1950's. His work kept pace with the evolution of computational power from main frame computers to the current self-contained x-ray diffraction facility that he helped to establish. He collaborated with numerous research groups in chemistry and physics, including some from other universities, and this joint work led to publications with many different coauthors, including over a dozen papers completed after his formal retirement.

Throughout his career at Iowa, Norm was involved in all aspects of teaching programs in the department. In the early years of his career at Iowa, he taught courses in metallurgy and upper-level physical chemistry courses ranging from thermodynamics to quantum mechanics. Many former graduate students will never forget their first class in Advanced Physical Chemistry in which he announced: "There will be an examination in this class every Friday. Today is Friday." He was also an advisor to many undergraduate chemistry majors as well as to student organizations, and he became a leader in establishing the introductory chemistry course curricula and his former students in those courses must number over ten thousand.
In addition to his busy academic life, he was skilled in areas ranging from carpentry to plumbing to auto repair. He and his wife Betty designed and built two houses, much with their own hands. Although a reluctant performer, he was also a capable pianist. He was preceded in death by his wife Betty in 1984, and he is survived by his four children: Mardy, Walter, John, and Gregory as well as by nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Both his family and former colleagues will miss his tolerance, his intellect, and his gentle sense of humor.