William Barry Jensen

William Barry Jensen, age 76, passed away on Saturday, November 2, 2024 while in critical care at UC Health, Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born on March 25, 1948 in Marshfield, Wisconsin, the oldest of the three children born to William and Betty (Tracy) Jensen. Growing up in Wausau, Wisconsin, he planned to become a chemist as early as the fifth grade and was an avid home laboratory enthusiast throughout junior and senior high school. His interest in history of chemistry developed around the seventh grade when he first encountered a copy of Mary Elvira Weeks' Discovery of the Elements in the Wausau Pubic Library. He also had a great love of books, Victorian Architecture, and drawing caricatures of famous chemists and authors. After graduating from Wausau East High School, he pursued his higher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison completing his B.S. in chemistry with honors in 1970, M.S. in chemistry and education in 1972, and Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry in 1982. While pursuing his degrees, he reconnected with a high school acquaintance, Judith Jelen while traveling back to Wausau by bus from Madison. This chance meeting lead to them marrying in 1974 in Madison, WI and enjoying 42 years together before Judith's passing in 2016. After graduating from UW-Madison, William began his career as the assistant professor of inorganic chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology (1983-1986) in Rochester, New York. Several years later, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and was appointed Oesper Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Chemical Education at the University of Cincinnati, where he also served as the founder and curator of the award winning Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry. He is author of the books The Lewis Acid-Base Concepts: An Overview, Mendeleev on the Periodic Law: Selected Writings 1869-1905, Scientist in the Service of Israel: The Life and Times of Ernst David Bergmann, and A Teacher's Guide to Bond-type Triangles, as well as over 250 reviews, articles, and notes in the fields of inorganic chemistry, history of chemistry, and chemical education. He was also the founding editor of The Bulletin for the History of Chemistry and recipient from the History of chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society of the 2005 Edelstein Award for Outstanding contributions to the History of Chemistry. He was the curator of the Oesper Collections in the History of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati, which include rare books and journals, a print and photograph collection and a museum of historical chemical apparatus. He is survived by his two siblings: Stephen (Gene) Jensen of Gresham, WI; Linda (Robert) Bentz of Wausau, WI; by two uncles: Montie W. Tracy of Sandy, Ut; Clyde R. Tracy of Saint Louis, MO; and by one aunt: Kathleen Z. Hoffman of Gresham, WI; as well as by five nephews and one niece. William is preceded in death by his wife, Judith (Jelen) Jensen; father, William Jensen; and mother, Betty Jensen Branham. To honor his wishes, there will be no funeral service. We invite you to please privately celebrate his memory in your own ways. We know that he will be with us all in spirit. His ashes will be laid to rest along side his parents at Roosevelt Cemetery, Senec Township, Gresham, WI. To share a memory of William or leave a special message for the Jensen family, please click the "Tribute Wall" tab above and to the right, enter the information, and click "Save Post." Walker Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the Jensen family during this difficult time. Please call 513.251.6200 or visit www.HerbWalker.com for additional information. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of William Barry Jensen, please visit our floral store.