SWIATOSLAW TROFIMENKO ’55

SWIATOSLAW TROFIMENKO, 75, a chemist, died Feb. 26, 2007. Born in the Western Ukraine, he came to Wesleyan on a scholarship and received his degree with honors and high distinction in chemistry. He was a member of the John Wesley Club and was elected to Sigma Xi. After receiving his PhD from Northwestern University, he completed postdoctoral studies at Columbia University and then joined the DuPont Company in 1959. While there, he discovered the polypyrazolylborate ligands, which he named Scorpionates. He published a book on this subject in 1999, and a sequel is scheduled for publication this year. The author of numerous scientific articles, and the holder of 36 patents, he retired in 1996 from DuPont and then joined the faculty of the University of Delaware as Honorary Scholar in the chemistry and biochemistry department. Survivors include his wife, Martha Babych Trofimenko; one daughter, Zoya Trofimenko ’85; and two grandchildren.