James McCue Bobbitt passed away November 22, 2021 after being injured in an automobile accident in Windham, Connecticut. Born on January 18, 1930 in Charleston, West Virginia, he was on the cusp of 92.
Dr. Bobbitt graduated from West Virginia University in 1952, where he also met his wife, Jane Ann Hickman, “the smartest student in the class.” In the organic chemistry laboratory – which he disliked intensely – he earned the name of “Fire Bug Bobbitt.” However, he discovered organic chemistry as his passion and went on to study at Ohio State and Wayne State Universities before joining the Department of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut in 1956. He rose through the ranks, and served as the Head of Department (1977-82). During his tenure as Head, he hired many of the people that formed the Department as we know it today. He became Professor Emeritus in 1992, though he continued his passion of teaching organic chemistry for many more years. Notably, Jim was a bench chemist with all his heart and he continued to work in the laboratory nearly every day until 2020! “Retirement” accelerated his research activities, particularly with respect to the development of what is now known as Bobbitt’s reagent, an oxoammonium-based, transition metal-free oxidant of broad utility.
He began his research work into the synthesis of isoquinoline derivatives and later studied electrosynthetic chemistry. He spent sabbaticals at the University of Zürich, Switzerland (1959-60), The University of East Anglia, Norwich, England (1964-65), and The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia (1985-86). He also held a visiting professorship at Tohoku University, Japan, and La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia (1971-72). He served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Heterocycles. In 1963, he was the first in the US to publish on “Thin-Layer Chromatography.” This publication was among 125 career papers, the latest of which was published in 2018. He was the advisor to 31 MS and Ph.D. students, and he mentored many more.
Many of us also knew Jim as a dedicated family man, an avid traveler, and a wonderful cook, gardener, beekeeper, and wine maker from his Twenty Mile vineyard in Atwoodville. He brought people together. He is survived by his wife, Jane Ann, and his three children, John, Annie, and Laura, as well as a loving, extended family including his grandchildren Ian, Eric, and Brittany.
We will all greatly miss this wise scholar and gentle and humorous man, and his dedication to science and teaching.
A brief gravesite memorial service will be held on December 11 at 11 a.m. at the Storrs Cemetery.
Read the full obituary of Dr. James McCue Bobbitt: https://www.potterfuneralhome.com/obituary/James-Bobbitt