13 Facts About Kenichi Fukui

Kenichi Fukui was a Japanese chemist, known as the first Asian person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Kenichi Fukui's prize-winning work focused on the role of frontier orbitals in chemical reactions: specifically that molecules share loosely bonded electrons which occupy the frontier orbitals, that is, the Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital and the Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital.

Kenichi Fukui had developed the belief that a breakthrough in science occurs through the unexpected fusion of remotely related fields.

Kenichi Fukui explains that chemistry was difficult to him because it seemed to require memorization to learn it, and that he preferred more logical character in chemistry.

Kenichi Fukui followed the advice a mentor that was well respected by Kenichi himself and never looked back.

Kenichi Fukui followed in those footsteps by attending Kyoto University in Japan.

Kenichi Fukui had quickly completed more than 100 experimental projects and papers, and he rather enjoyed the experimental phenomena of chemistry.

Kenichi Fukui was professor of physical chemistry at Kyoto University from 1951 to 1982, president of the Kyoto Institute of Technology between 1982 and 1988, and a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and honorary member of the International Academy of Science, Munich.

Kenichi Fukui was director of the Institute for Fundamental Chemistry from 1988 till his death.

Kenichi Fukui observed in his Nobel lecture in 1981 that his original paper 'received a number of controversial comments.

Kenichi Fukui had acknowledged in his Nobel lecture that, 'It is only after the remarkable appearance of the brilliant work by Woodward and Hoffmann that I have become fully aware that not only the density distribution but the nodal property of the particular orbitals have significance in such a wide variety of chemical reactions.

Kenichi Fukui was awarded the Nobel Prize for his realization that a good approximation for reactivity could be found by looking at the frontier orbitals.

Kenichi Fukui was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1989.