Professor Karel Dušek, Emeritus Principal Scientist of IMC, passed away
The management of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences announces with deep sorrow that on October 30, 2020, prof. Ing. Karel Dušek, DrSc. passed away at the age of 90. Karel Dušek was one of the most prominent figures in polymer science and contributed to its significant progress. In recent years, he worked as Emeritus Principal Scientist of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry.
Karel Dušek received his M.Sc. degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague in 1953 and his PhD from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1958. Before joining the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1965, he worked for the Research Institute of Synthetic Resins and Lacquers in Pardubice (now SYNPO). In recent years, he worked as Emeritus Principal Scientist of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
His main research interest was in formation, structure, and properties of cross-linked polymers and polymer gels. Karel Dušek published about 320 peer-reviewed papers that have received over 10,100 citations, his H-index is 47.
Karel Dušek was a Professor of Macromolecular Chemistry and spent shorter times as visiting professor at universities in France, U.S.A and U.K. and since 1996, Karel Dušek was Adjunct Professor in the Department of Bioengineering of the University of Utah. Karel Dušek was a founding member of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic.
With the passing away of prof. Karel Dušek, not only are Czech science, the Learned Society and the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry losing a prominent Czech researcher but at the same time a bright star in the constellation of polymer science has gone out.
