In Memory of Kai Grjotheim

摘要

Professor Dr. techn. Kai Grjotheim passed away in Oslo on April 17, 2003, at the age of 83. Professor Gijotheim graduated with a M. Sc. degree in chemistry from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) in Trondheim in 1950. He was awarded the Norwegian degree of Doctor Technicae (Dr. techn.) in 1956 and became a full professor in 1959. He then worked at the same institution, which today is called the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology (NTNU), until 1972. From 1973 to 1989, he was a professor in general and inorganic chemistry at the University of Oslo. However, he maintained an active cooperation with his alma mater, and his old Institute of Inorganic Chemistry in Trondheim was always close to his heart after he left for Oslo. Professor Grjotheim perfomed important basic research work, but it is within applied and technical research that he made his greatest contribution. Early in his career, he had the ambition to work in a field of research, where the results could be put to practical use for industry. His research work on the chemistry of molten salts soon led him into aluminum electrolysis, which became his main field of research throughout the following forty years.