Alvin W. “Al” Czanderna, who served in the US Air Force and at Union Carbide (UC), Clarkson University, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), died in San Antonio, Texas, on 5 June 2023 at age 93.
Born in La Porte, Indiana, on 27 May 1930, Al earned a BS in metallurgical engineering in 1951 and a PhD in physical chemistry in 1957 at Purdue University. During his 53-year career, he was a physical metallurgist in the Air Force (1951–53); research scientist with UC in Parma, Ohio, and S. Charleston, West Virginia (1957–65); professor of physics at Clarkson (1965–78); and a research fellow at the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) in Golden, Colorado, which became NREL in 1991, from 1978 to 1999. He was adjunct professor at the universities of Denver, Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado from 1980 to 2000. Although retired in 1999, he was a consultant to NREL until 2004; he consulted for 10 corporations from 1966 to 1978.
Al married his wife “Lucy” in 1953. In 1967 Lucy volunteered to be the Czanderna household manager. Her willingness permitted Al to work professionally from 60 to 80 hours a week, greatly enhancing his professional contributions.
Al was recognized internationally for his research in surface science. With UC he studied the adsorption of oxygen on silver surfaces and the oxidation of thin copper films. From ultra-micro-gravimetric studies, he elucidated the atomic and molecular surface coverages of oxygen on silver. With Harold Weider, he studied the oxidation of thin copper films and identified CuO0.67 as a gross defect structure of cuprous oxide. The first paper reporting this new result, which had not been reported in 450 prior copper oxidation studies, was rejected because “the conclusions have not been reported before!” CuO0.67 was substantiated by numerous studies by others after the results were published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry (1962).
With his graduate students, Al continued similar studies as a professor of physics at Clarkson but soon began using ion scattering spectrometry to carry out surface analysis on solid surfaces. He expanded his surface analytical studies to using XPS, AES, SIMS, and SIMS on surfaces/interfaces at SERI/NREL. Before retiring, he was studying interactions and reactions at solid–gas and solid–solid interfaces, interactions at metal (oxide)–self-assembled monolayer interfaces, polymer–metal interfaces, the durability of photovoltaic cells/mini-modules, electrochromic windows, silver–glass mirrors, and the service lifetime prediction of multilayered devices—all for solar applications. From studies by his group, the service lifetime of photovoltaic modules now exceeds 20 years.
An APS fellow (1975) and member of Sigma Pi Sigma (1966), Al was a lifetime member of the APS. He contributed 258 publications to the scientific literature, including 57 review chapters and 21 edited books. An internationally recognized surface scientist, he gave over 425 technical talks, including 225 invited lectures. He taught 93 two- or three-day short courses on the Fundamentals of Surface Science and the Methods of Surface Analysis (XPS, AES, ISS, and SIMS), mostly for the AVS. Al was named a fellow of the NYAS (1972), SERI (1983), and the AVS (1995).
In addition to numerous awards for his interdisciplinary research by SERI/NREL, he received the Fourth Research Award of the Energy Technology Division of the Electrochemical Society in May 1999 for his research contributions in renewable energy research and development. He also received the American Chemical Society Arthur Adamson Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry in March 2000. The chemistry department at Purdue named him Distinguished Alumnus in October 2004. Al was chosen to be the 32nd Honorary Member of AVS International in November 2006. Lucy’s help was always recognized by Al when accepting each award. Al was a member of the APS, ACS, AVS, ECS, NYAS, ASTM, and NFRC, and he served on numerous committees in five of those societies.
Al was a passionate member of 11 congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and served in various governance positions in four congregations. In 1973 he was elected to be a lay member of the LCMS Board for Higher Education. He was vice chairman (1979–81) and chairman (1981–83); he concluded his service in 1986. His passion for teaching included Bible classes in four congregations.
Al demanded perfection of himself. He pursued all activities with passion, including writing his family history—a two-year project with 8500 scanned photographs. As a first-generation immigrant, his opening chapter was about his opportunity to pursue the American dream, because his grandfather brought his father to America in 1912.
Al is survived by daughters (Dr. Karel, Kani Nichols), four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife Lucy of 59 years and his daughter Kathy. Al desired that memorial contributions be made to Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 6914 Wurzbach Rd., San Antonio, TX, 78240 or to a charity of your choice. A replay of the funeral service is available here and a more complete obituary here. Daughters Karel and Kani welcome your reflections about their father at czanallu@gmail.com.
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