In the early morning of Thursday February 15 2024, Professor Emeritus Roeland Nolte passed away, aged 79. He studied chemistry in Utrecht and also received his doctorate there in 1973, under the guidance of Prof. Wiendelt Drenth. During his PhD he investigated the polymerization of isocyanides, a reaction he had discovered by accident. In elucidating the reaction mechanism, he discovered that the polymer chains had helical structures, and he succeeded in separating the left-handed and right-handed helical forms. After his doctorate, Roeland continued to work in Utrecht, and in preparation for an academic career, he conducted postdoctoral research in 1981 in the lab of the later Nobel laureate Donald Cram, at UCLA in Los Angeles. Here he became fascinated by supramolecular chemistry, which would lay the foundation for the further continuation of his career. Upon his return to Utrecht in 1982, he was appointed assistant professor and started research on synthetic cavity molecules. These could bind smaller molecules through weak, non-covalent interactions, analogous to the binding of substrates in the cavities of natural enzymes. This field, new for the Netherlands, also attracted the attention of the Subfaculty of Chemistry in Nijmegen, where a successor to Prof. Rutger Nivard was sought. There the idea was conceived to take another direction within organic chemistry in addition to the research of Prof. Binne Zwanenburg in synthesis, and Roeland was appointed professor of physical organic and supramolecular chemistry on August 1 1987.
In the decades that followed, Roeland Nolte developed a wide range of research directions within supramolecular chemistry. With boundless passion and creativity, he investigated molecular 'clips', synthetic enzymes, (super)amphiphiles, phthalocyanines, porphyrins, polyisocyanides, sensors, liquid crystals, virus-based materials, and molecular 'machines'. The diversity of his work has found its way into over 700 scientific publications and brought him great international prestige in his field. He has been honoured with numerous memberships and awards for his contributions to science. These include memberships of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW), the Belgian Academy of Sciences, the Academia Europaea, a honorary membership of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV), and a Knighthood of the Order of the Dutch Lion. Furthermore, his awards include the prestigious Izatt-Christensen Award for his studies in macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry, and the Linstead Career Award in Phthalocyanine Chemistry. He was also the first KNAW Academy Professor in the field of chemistry.
Besides being a scientist, Roeland Nolte was also an inspiring lecturer. He possessed a natural charisma and charm, which made every lecture hall turn silent the moment he started speaking. He often used handwritten sheets and slides, which were so illustrative that they are still used today by his successors. He managed to convey the same enthusiasm to the almost endless line of students, PhD students and postdocs who were part of his group during his career. As many as 96 young researchers have obtained doctoral degrees under his guidance, the last of them just 1 month ago. A large number of his former PhD students and postdocs now hold professorships at universities in The Netherlands and abroad, more than guaranteeing his scientific legacy.
In the role of director, Roeland Nolte has been the Chairman of the Subfaculty of Chemistry, and later the first Director of the Institute for Molecules and Materials, in which a fruitful marriage between various chemistry and physics groups emerged. He stimulated interdisciplinary collaborations, which helped to put the young institute on the map worldwide and gained it international prestige. Outside Nijmegen, he was, among at other positions, chairman of the Organic Chemistry Section of the KNCV, and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study. He was a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Science, and chairman of the editorial board of Chemical Communications.
After his retirement in 2010, Roeland decided to remain active in science. He succeeded in obtaining an ERC Advanced Grant twice in a row, and trained several new generations of PhD students, postdocs and undergraduate students. In a specially formed chair of Molecular Nanotechnology, he once again gave his research fresh momentum, developing molecular 'machines' to write digital data on polymer molecules. Until last week, he was present in the Huygens building on a daily basis, where he still enjoyed unleashing his creativity in research and playing a mentoring role for the younger generation of staff members.
Above all, Roeland was an amiable and warm person. He was widely praised by his colleagues in science as a true gentleman, a role model and a good friend. Like no other he knew how to inspire and motivate people in his group, by giving them confidence and space to develop themselves as scientists. At the right moments, he handed out compliments, and when results were nice, he openly expressed his appreciation and mentioned group members - by name and photo - in his lectures at conferences. To everyone around him, Roeland showed genuine and considerate interest. He invariably made time for anyone who asked for his opinion or advice, whether it was about science, or something personal. His door was literally and figuratively always open.
With the passing of Roeland Nolte we lose a stylish and iconic scientist, a highly respected colleague, and a good friend. We remember him with honor and respect.