Prof. Isao Ando 9 April 1941 – 2 February 2025
ISMAR mourns the passing of Prof. Isao Ando on February 2, 2025, at the age of 83.
Prof. Ando was a pioneer in the solid-state NMR analysis of polymer crystals. In particular, he established the correlation between 13C chemical shifts of α- and β-carbons and main-chain dihedral angles in peptides. He also developed high-field gradient NMR systems and methods for studying diffusion processes in polymer gels and liquid crystals.
Prof. Ando was professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and esteemed ISMAR Fellow.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
The following tribute was written by Prof. Masatsune Kainosho and Prof. Tetsuo Asakura
Professor Ando earned his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1972, where he began his academic career as an assistant in the Department of Polymer Engineering. In 1976, he spent a formative year as a postdoctoral research fellow in Professor Gutowsky’s laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Upon returning to Japan, he was appointed associate professor in 1982 and promoted to full professor in 1988 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Throughout his distinguished career, Professor Ando made pioneering contributions to the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in polymer science. His work encompassed a wide range of topics, including the development of NMR chemical shift and structural analysis methods for polymers; high-precision structural and dynamic analyses of polymer systems; theoretical developments in NMR chemical shift for one-, two-, and three-dimensional polymer crystals; evaluation of polymer structures and electronic states; high-field gradient NMR systems; diffusion processes in polymer gels and liquid crystals; and stimulus-responsive NMR imaging systems with applications in gel science. Among his many achievements, Professor Ando was a pioneer in establishing the correlation between 13C chemical shifts of α- and β-carbons and main-chain dihedral angles in model peptides, using solid-state NMR and quantum chemical calculations. His application of solid-state NMR to biological polymers greatly advanced the understanding of polymer structures and dynamics.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to solid-state NMR studies in biopolymers, he received the Society Award from the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, in 1990. Beyond his scientific achievements, Professor Ando was dedicated to fostering international collaboration. He served on the editorial boards of several prominent journals, including Journal of Polymer Science, Journal of Molecular Structure, and Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry. Professor Ando’s legacy continues through the many researchers he inspired and the foundational contributions he made to the field of NMR spectroscopy.