James N. Pitts, Jr.

Dr. James Pitts, a self-described “native Californian within experimental error,” devoted most of his adult life and academic career to the University of California. Born on January 10, 1921 in Salt Lake City, Utah, he came to California when he was six months old. His UC academic career began as a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) chemistry undergraduate in 1939 and ended upon his passing on June 19, 2014. Dr. Pitts held the titles of UCR Professor of Chemistry, emeritus, as well as Research Chemist at the University of California, Irvine. In between he had a truly remarkable career as a student, professor, administrator, researcher, teacher, and air quality advocate.

WWII interrupted his undergraduate studies at UCLA when he served both in the U.S. and Pacific Theater as a research scientist in chemical warfare for the National Defense Research Committee (1942-45), and with the U.S. Army in the detection of biological agents (1945-46). After returning to UCLA to complete both his B.S. and Ph.D. (Physical Chemistry, 1949) degrees, he took a brief UC timeout joining the chemistry faculty at Northwestern University. However he enthusiastically returned to UC when, in 1954, he was invited by Divisional Chairman of Physical Sciences Conway Pierce to join the new Riverside campus of the University of California as Associate Professor of Chemistry and founding faculty member in the Division of Physical Sciences.

From 1954 until mid-1960, he and Conway Pierce were the only tenured chemistry faculty in the Physical Sciences division. So with Conway as the Divisional Chairman for all the physical sciences and mathematics, it fell on Dr. Pitts’ shoulders to lead the faculty in the divisional chemistry program that subsequently became the Chemistry Department in a restructured College of Letters and Sciences; this department was the first to offer a Ph.D. degree.

During that 1954-1960 period, the chemistry faculty quickly grew in size from two to nine faculty members of which seven were Assistant Professors. But after 1960, things changed even more quickly and dramatically for the chemistry faculty and the campus. The chemistry program was restructured from being under the divisional structure to departmental status within the reorganized College of Letters and Science. This was accompanied by the hiring of a distinguished senior inorganic chemist as Professor of Chemistry to strengthen the new graduate program.

In recognition of his strong leadership role, in 1961 Dr. Pitts officially became the first department chair, and the size of the chemistry faculty increased from nine to fourteen over the tenure of his chairmanship (1961 to 1963). During that period, the department finalized plans for the construction of a large three-story chemistry building, now known as Pierce Hall. Initial planning and detailed architectural drawings were in active progress and preparation during the latter part of the 1950s, making it another major task of Dr. Pitts’ before he officially became the department chair.

Of course research is a crucial obligation of all UC professors. Dr. Pitts arrived on campus with a strong research program focused on fundamental photochemistry to which he had been introduced as an undergraduate and graduate research student of UCLA Professor F. E. Blacet. In 1966 Dr. Pitts co-authored the scholarly book Photochemistry with Jack Calvert that remains a classic in the field. In recognition of his research accomplishments, he was awarded an M.A. degree from Oxford where he spent two sabbatical leaves. He also was selected as a Guggenheim Fellow in 1961 at University College and as a Research Fellow and undergraduate tutor at Merton College in 1965.

During this time period Dr. Pitts became interested in the new field of air pollution that was recognized as being driven by photochemical reactions as yet unknown. In 1961, he was a co-founder of the University of California Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (SAPRC) on the UCR campus, and was its Director from 1970 - 1988. The research at SAPRC largely laid the groundwork for the development of the new field of atmospheric chemistry. It was widely recognized as an independent source of scientific advice, with visits by scientists from all around the world as well as politicians of all persuasions including Ronald Reagan, George McGovern, Ed Muskie and Jerry Brown. These visits and the research accomplishments of SAPRC brought much recognition to Dr. Pitts and to UCR. There are few atmospheric problems today that do not have Dr. Pitts’ early fingerprints on them.

His scientific perception, vision and enthusiasm have inspired many generations of young scientists. One in particular was a freshman chemistry major in his 1963-64 Chemistry 1AB class who earned the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research at SAPRC. That student, Richard Schrock, became the 2005 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, and after retiring from MIT he recently was appointed as the George K. Helmkamp Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UCR.

The research carried out by Dr. Pitts’ team at SAPRC provided much of the scientific basis of California's forward-looking policies and regulations which have been widely adopted both nationally and internationally. These policies have led to dramatic improvements in air quality. Always willing to testify to state and federal legislative bodies regarding the science of air pollution, and to provide informal advice to a variety of stakeholders, Dr. Pitts received many commendations and accolades both for his science and for its translation into policy for the public good. He was a member of, or chaired, a number of statewide committees for the California Air Resources Board, including the Acid Deposition Committee and the Scientific Review Panel on Airborne Toxic Chemicals. He had a firm policy of not accepting support from industry that would give the perception of bias in his translation of science into public policy.

His accomplishments and contributions were recognized with many awards, including the 1973 Orange County Section of the American Chemical Society Service Through Chemistry Award, the 1979 California Lung Association Clean Air Award, the 1982 Air Pollution Control Association Frank A. Chambers Award, the 1983 Richard C. Tolman Medal of the Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society, the selection in 1983 as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Lifetime Achievement Clean Air Award from the South Air Quality Management District (1992), the 2002 Haagen-Smit Award from the California Air Resources Board for Outstanding Contributions to Air Pollution Science, and the 2007 Carl Moyer Award from the Coalition for Clean Air for Scientific Leadership and Technical Excellence.

Subsequent to his retirement from UCR in 1988, Dr. Pitts devoted himself to a research collaboration on air pollution with his wife Professor Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, first as an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University, Fullerton, and subsequently in 1994 as a Research Chemist at UC Irvine where she is now both Professor of Chemistry and Director of AirUCI. At UCI, Jim also played a central role in mentoring students at all levels, and particularly enjoyed interactions with undergraduate and graduate students. All told in his career, he co-authored 380 scientific publications and four books, two of which are on atmospheric chemistry co-authored with his wife, Barbara.

Dr. Pitts’ loss as a colleague and good friend has been deeply felt by all who knew him, but none as greatly as Barbara, his children Linda Lee, Christie Hoffman (deceased, 2016), and Beckie St. George, and his six grandchildren and their families.

Prepared by Robert C. Neuman, Jr., UCR Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, Hartland H. Schmidt, UCR Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus and Richard M. Wing, UCR Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus.