Kirkwood, John G.

Kirkwood, John G. (Gamble) (1907–59) physical chemist; born in Gotebo, Okla. He performed research in Europe (1931–32), and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1931–34), then taught chemistry at Cornell (1934–47), and the University of Chicago (1937–38). He moved to the California Institute of Technology (1947–51), then became professor of chemistry at Yale (1951–59). Kirkwood's elegant mathematical approach to research made him a leader in investigations of electrical properties of gases and liquids, and an innovator in the field of protein electrophoresis.