IN MEMORIAM PROF. EMIL CORDOȘ Ph.D. 1936-2021

Abstract

Prof. Emil Cordoş Ph.D was part of a student generation that made the most representative connection between the group of professors that founded the chemistry department in early 1920 and the generation that graduated in early 1960 and developed the chemistry department in both fundamental and engineering chemistry. Professor Cordoș became a student of the Faculty of Chemistry in 1954 and graduated in 1959 with a degree of merit (red diploma), specialty Inorganic Chemistry. He obtained, by competition, a preparatory position in 1960, followed in 1961 by a promotion to assistant, lecturer in 1968, associate professor in 1976, professor in 1990 and consulting professor in 2005. Professor Cordoş occupied leadership positions at the Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry: Vice Dean, 1977-1981, Dean, 1990-1992 and Head of Analytical Chemistry Chair, 1996-2002. Specialization of Professor Cordoş in Analytical Chemistry was the Instrumental Analysis, mainly in spectrometric methods. He made the first steps in this field at the University of Illinois, USA, where he worked for three years as Fulbright fellow and postdoctoral research associate. As a matter of fact he defended his Ph.D in 1969 with a thesis entitled "Contributions to the automation of kinetic methods of analysis”. He understood that valuable research in the analytical instrumentation implies an interdisciplinary approach. Therefore, besides the remodeling of the Instrumental Analysis course he set up and organized research teams and groups within specific projects. In 1990 these collectives merged and, finally, in 1996 they became the Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Cluj-Napoca, a subsidiary of the National Institute of Research and Development in Optoelectronics. Professor Cordoş achievements in the fields of instrumental analysis, are described in 207 papers, 130 of these being published in ISI indexed journals. He published five books: Electronics for Chemists, Ed. Stiintifica (1978), Atomic Absorption and Fluorescence Spectrometry, Ed. Academiei (1984), Analysis by Atomic Spectrometry, Ed. INOE (1998). Analysis by UV- Vis Molecular Absorption Spectrometry, Ed. INOE (2001), Analytical Atomic Spectrometry with Plasma Sources, Ed. INOE (2007); three chapters in books and a chapter in a megaencyclopedia devoted to analytical chemistry into the third millennium. The encyclopedia had 14 volumes and 700 contributors as experts in their fields. Only two of them were Romanians. To these should be added 12 patents, studies, methods and instrumentation resulted from more than 100 projects and research contracts or grants covered as project leader. A special note for the spectrometric systems based on radio frequency generated plasma sources, made before 1990 and continued through a series of projects to date and for the environmental projects in European programs. Under his leadership were presented 23 doctoral thesis. Regarding the connection with Studia, Prof. Cordos, as Dean, was Studia’s responsible editor in 1990-92. He published his first paper in Studia in 1962, volume VII. Professor Cordos was member of many professional societies among them stands: American Chemical Society, Romanian Society of Chemistry, Society for Applied Spectroscopy, International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, EURACHEM Romania (founding member). He was president of the first subsidiary in Cluj-Napoca of the Romanian Society of Chemistry and was president and founder of PROANALITICA XXI.