Kenneth Pitzer; Former Head of Stanford, Rice Universities

Kenneth S. Pitzer, former president of Stanford and Rice universities and a trustee and benefactor of Pitzer College, a Claremont College named for his father, has died. He was 83.

Pitzer, a chemist who directed research at the Atomic Energy Commission after World War II, died Dec. 26 of heart failure in Berkeley, Claremont Colleges officials announced Friday.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday in the Great Hall of the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley, where Pitzer taught chemistry until his retirement in 1984.

“His was a shining example of a life lived in service to higher education and the welfare of society,” said Pitzer College President Marilyn Chapin Massey.

Pitzer was the only child of Pomona attorney and citrus magnate Russell K. Pitzer, a founding trustee and the primary benefactor of Pitzer College in 1963.

The son had been a trustee of Pitzer College since 1966 and donated funds to its Flora Sanborn Pitzer Professorship, the Jean M. Pitzer Professorship, the Kenneth S. Pitzer Professorship, the Jean M. Pitzer Archeology Laboratory and the Jean M. and Kenneth S. Pitzer Scholarship Fund.

As a scientist, Pitzer was nationally known for his work in physical and theoretical chemistry, particularly in predicting the thermodynamic properties of molecules.

Born in Pomona, he earned degrees at Caltech, UC Berkeley and Wesleyan University. During World War II, he was technical director of the Maryland Research Laboratory, and from 1949 to 1951 directed research at the Atomic Energy Commission, now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He remained an advisor to the commission for several years after returning to academia.

Pitzer was president of Rice University in Houston from 1961 until 1968 and of Stanford from 1968 until 1971, when he returned to UC Berkeley to teach.

Among his awards were the Priestly Medal of the American Chemical Society and, in 1974, the National Medal for Science.

He is survived by his wife, Jean, of Kensington, Calif.; a daughter, Ann, of San Diego; two sons, Russell of Columbus, Ohio, and John of McLean, Va.; and five grandchildren.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be sent for scholarships to the Kenneth S. Pitzer Fund, College of Chemistry, Latimer Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-1460.