SR1311 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1311 LRB103 43097 ECR 76355 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of John Edwin Baldwin, who passed away on May 26, 2024 at the age of 86; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin was born to Francis M. Baldwin and Irville (Miller) Baldwin in Berwyn on September 10, 1937; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin grew up in Oak Park, where he attended Oak Park and River Forest High School and not only excelled in sports but was also valedictorian of his 1955 graduating class; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, graduating valedictorian of his class in 1959; he was an athlete on Dartmouth's football, lacrosse, track, and ski teams; he earned his PhD in chemistry and physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1963; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin began his career at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before accepting an offer from the University of Oregon, where he taught for 16 years; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin served on the President's Science Advisory Committee, the Medicinal Chemistry Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation's Chemistry Division Standing Review Panel, the Executive Committee of the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry, and the Advisory Board of the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin was an avid reader of history and philosophy; he studied many foreign languages, including Russian, Swedish, and German; he often took the opportunity to travel in both a professional and personal capacity, holding visiting professor appointments in Heidelberg, Munich, and Hamburg, Germany, in Krakow, Poland, in Stockholm and Göteborg, Sweden, and at his alma mater, Cal Tech; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin was the recipient of the American Chemical Society's coveted James Flack Norris Award in 2010, a reflection of his diverse and highly influential research contributions; the complexity of his experiments is considered to be ambitious, elegant, and insightful; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin had a love for music along with a passion for his field of physical organic chemistry; he had the reputation of being a gifted and meticulous scholar, researcher, and collaborator and a legendary teacher and mentor; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin was married to Anne (Nordlander) Baldwin for almost 63 years, and he was a resident at Foulkeways in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin was preceded in death by his parents; and

WHEREAS, John Baldwin is survived by his wife, Anne; his children, Claire Miller (Ferdinand von Muench) Baldwin, John Nordlander (the late Daphne Berdahl-Baldwin) Baldwin, and Wesley Hale (Melisa Barrick) Baldwin; his grandchildren; his sister, Martha Baldwin Swanson; and many nieces and nephews; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of John Edwin Baldwin and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of John Baldwin as an expression of our deepest sympathy.