John Edwin Baldwin

John Edwin Baldwin, 86, a resident at Foulkeways, in Gwynedd, PA, died there peacefully on Sunday night, May 26, 2024. He was the loving and devoted husband of Anne (Nordlander) Baldwin, also a resident at Foulkeways, for almost 63 years, and father of three children and grandfather of eight. John's parents were Francis M. Baldwin and Irville (Miller) Baldwin. He was born in Berwyn, Illinois, September 10, 1937, and grew up in Oak Park. He attended Oak Park and River Forest High School, where he excelled in sports and was valedictorian of his 1955 graduating class.
Baldwin did his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, graduating as valedictorian of his class in 1959. He then pursued his doctoral studies in chemistry and physics under Jack Roberts at California Institute of Technology, earning his PhD in 1963.
Deeply interested in his field of Physical Organic Chemistry and dedicated to the universities where he worked, as well as to his broader scholarly community, Dr. Baldwin developed a reputation as a gifted and meticulous scholar, researcher, collaborator, and legendary teacher and mentor. He began his career at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill., at the age of 25. In 1968 Baldwin accepted the offer of Professor at the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. During his sixteen-year tenure there, he also served five years as Dean of Arts and Sciences. John spent his final decades of teaching and research at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, starting in 1984. There, he co-led the eight-year creation of the 230,000 square foot Life Sciences Complex and chaired the Department of Chemistry with immense distinction. He invested in mentoring other scholars and academic leaders; his colleagues and students are making an impact throughout the world. He was the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Science and was named one of the few Distinguished Professors at Syracuse, also earning a Chancellor's Citation for Excellence. His research was supported by the National Science Foundation and by awards, such as those from the John Simon Guggenheim and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundations. Baldwin served on national boards and scientific advisory committees, including 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.
John had a passion for learning that extended beyond his primary professional field. He read broadly, especially in history and philosophy, and studied many foreign languages including Russian, Swedish, and German. He embraced the professional and personal opportunity to travel and held visiting professor appointments at Heidelberg, Munich and Hamburg, Germany; Krakow, Poland; Stockholm and Göteborg, Sweden; and at his alma mater Cal Tech. His friends and colleagues treasured his intense interest in their work, whatever it was and no matter how far afield it was from his. He loved music and enjoyed being on the board of the Chamber Music Society and supporting the work of the Society for New Music in Syracuse. John and Anne held concerts of those societies in their home and frequently hosted visiting musicians. He was an athlete on the football, lacrosse, track, and ski teams at Dartmouth. He remained an avid runner and took pleasure in running with friends.
John's research contributions were diverse and highly influential and his complex experiments were considered ambitious, elegant, and insightful: one mark of that work was his receipt of the American Chemical Society's coveted James Flack Norris Award in 2010. The citation highlights his original mathematical approaches and ingenious isotopic labeling to solve the most challenging problems. As one of his collaborators has said, "When John's illness prevented him from communicating his creative thoughts about reaction mechanisms and science more broadly, a large hole was created in the field of physical organic chemistry, a hole that no one has since been able to fill. He has been irreplaceable."
In addition to his wife, Anne, he is survived by his children, Claire Miller Baldwin (husband Ferdinand von Muench), John Nordlander Baldwin (late wife Daphne Berdahl- Baldwin) Wesley Hale Baldwin (wife, Melisa Barrick Baldwin); grandchildren Carrie von Muench (husband Shankara Anand), Sophie von Muench, Audrey Berdahl-Baldwin, Eloise Berdahl-Baldwin, Jack Baldwin, Ella Baldwin, Poppy Baldwin, and Maisie Baldwin. John is also survived by his sister, Martha Baldwin Swanson, along with nieces and nephews.
Services will be held privately.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in John's name to Dartmouth College, at (https://calltolead.dartmouth.edu/ways-give), or to the American Friends Service Committee (afsc.org). Condolences may be conveyed through huffandlakjer.com