Celebrating the Life and Scientific Legacy of Professor Francis J. DiSalvo

Abstract

“If you want to catch a fish, you have to become a fish and adopt its behavior. The fish is looking for prey, but it will become prey itself if you only know what it will or must do. This is your chance.” That is how Francis J. “Frank” DiSalvo more than once summed up his advice on fishing, an activity that he loved, which of course also serves as a metaphor to many aspects of life. He was not only an excellent fisherman, but also a highly educated and talented physicist, industrial scientist, and self-trained chemist; ultimately an extremely accomplished solid-state chemist and materials scientist, a highly renowned educator, a fantastic colleague─and a beloved friend to us all. When it came to hunting for big scientific accomplishments, hardly anyone could compete with him. He was a great scientist, and an even greater person, a mentor, and inspiration for many who had the privilege of knowing him. He was the John A. Newman Professor Emeritus at Cornell University before his passing on October 27, 2023. Frank is survived by his wife, Barbara DiSalvo, two daughters, four grandchildren, and hundreds of students, postdocs, and collaborators who were fortunate enough to have interacted with him. Frank DiSalvo’s career is quickly told and may be listened to in an interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH7BrgXBrD4): Frank was born on July 20, 1944, in Montreal, Canada, the oldest of seven children, and his family moved to Reading, Massachusetts, during his childhood. He received a BS from MIT in 1966 (first studying chemistry and then physics) and then his PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford in 1971, working with Prof. Theodore H. Geballe. He then joined the AT&T Bell Laboratories where he later led the Solid State and Physics of Materials research department. He greatly valued his time at Bell Labs because it taught him how to collaborate with others given very limited funding. In 1986, Frank was recruited by Prof. Roald Hoffmann, then Chair of the Department of Chemistry, to join Cornell to follow in the footsteps of the late Prof. Mike Sienko. From 2000 to 2005, Frank DiSalvo served as the director of the Cornell Center for Materials Research, and helped establish the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute with Prof. Héctor (Tito) Abruña. He also served as the inaugural director of the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future from 2005 to 2015, which has grown into the flourishing Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. He was awarded the International Prize for New Materials by the American Physical Society (APS) in 1991 and elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He was also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the APS, and the Materials Research Society (MRS). Frank’s research centered around the discovery and understanding of new chemical and physical phenomena in solids. One of Frank DiSalvo’s particular strengths was his ability to “feel out” unknown compounds and anticipate their properties through the systematic study of physical data (e.g., phase diagrams) even before the new phase was synthesized in his laboratories. Physical properties were decisively important for him; structures alone he found less exciting. He had a deep and intuitive understanding on the physical properties of materials and would always keep a magnet on hand in the lab for the possibility that a room temperature superconductor could be discovered. During his time at Bell Labs, Frank gained international recognition for his research on superconductors and charge density waves (CDWs) in layered transition metal chalcogenide materials. In the late 1980s, he took up nitride chemistry, which was already well advanced in Europe. He popularized it in the United States and drove it forward enormously. Frank’s research interests later shifted toward materials research for energy applications such as thermoelectrics and fuel cells. He introduced intermetallic metal nanoparticles for electrocatalytic reactions for the purpose of sustainability. Frank’s scientific legacy would not only be measured by a plethora of research papers and patents he authored. Many former students, postdocs, mentees, and associates of Frank from both Cornell and Bell Labs are now leaders in academia and industry all over the world. He recognized young talents very quickly, and also knew how to challenge younger co-workers, sometimes through cheap bets: “I’ll bet you a quarter that you can’t make a ternary so-and-so with element X, Y and Z, you simply can’t.” And by deliberately losing such bets, Frank drove young researchers to success without them even realizing it. He genuinely enjoyed talking to everyone about their research (and their lives). With his enthusiastic and cheerful attitude, Frank encouraged us to discover our own research interests and explore our own career options, and infected us with a deep passion and curiosity for research. How many people did Frank help to connect and how many international collaborations have resulted? No one knows, but there are probably many more than any of us might imagine. Frank is leaving a truly boundless legacy. As famous and accomplished as Frank was, he remained approachable and connected closely with all of his students, postdocs, visiting professors, and collaborators. What surpasses Frank’s exceptional scientific talent was his even greater generosity and warmth. The memories of both scientific and philosophical discussions while having lunch around the large table in his office will be with us forever, just like those of group outings, birthday lunches, and gatherings at his house. With his good humor and countless stories, Frank generously shared his scientific knowledge and wisdom of life. He made a point of getting together any current or previous group members that attended the biannual Gordon Conference in Solid-State Chemistry to take group pictures and foster old and new friendships. Frank enjoyed family and was always excited to meet the children of the group alumni. Above all, Frank was an extraordinary human being. We miss Frank, even now, all the time; the gap simply cannot be filled. It was truly a privilege for us to have him as a mentor, to learn from him as a scientist, to work alongside him as a colleague, and to know him as a person. He has been a role model for each and every one of us and continues to inspire us. That is why this Special Issue of Chemistry of Materials is dedicated to him by his former students, postdocs, visiting scientists, colleagues, collaborators, and friends from the US, Europe, and Asia. The issue is bursting at the seams with new, exciting results from the diverse materials research topics he loved so much: from solid-state material synthesis and structure characterization to nanomaterials synthesis, catalyst materials for fuel cells and electrolyzers, and physical properties of materials. Frank, all this is for you, we have tried our best. This article has not yet been cited by other publications.