Texas A&M Mourns Loss Of Distinguished Professor Emeritus John Fackler

Texas A&M Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry John P. Fackler Jr. (right), pictured with longtime Texas A&M chemistry professor and administrator Michael Rosynek (left), at a July 2014 celebration in the Texas A&M Chemistry Building in commemoration of Fackler’s 80th birthday. | Image: Texas A&M Arts and Sciences Marketing and Communications

John P. Fackler Jr., world-respected Texas A&M University chemist and a leading international figure in inorganic chemistry, died Saturday (Feb. 25) at his home in The Woodlands, according to his family. He was 88.

A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Friday (March 3) at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in The Woodlands under the direction of Klein Funeral Home and Memorial Park for Fackler, a distinguished professor emeritus of chemistry who came to Texas A&M in 1983 as a professor of chemistry and dean of the College of Science — a post he held until 1992, when he returned full-time to the faculty in the Department of Chemistry. Originally named a distinguished professor of chemistry and toxicology in 1987, he was appointed to the rank of distinguished professor emeritus in 2008. He continued to serve in a part-time role with the university after his retirement, eventually closing his laboratory when he and his wife, Naomi, relocated to The Woodlands in 2014.

Born on July 31, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, Fackler received a bachelor of arts with majors in chemistry, physics and mathematics from Valparaiso University in 1956. He earned his doctorate in chemistry in 1960 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while studying under the late F. Albert Cotton, who had first taught at MIT prior to coming to Texas A&M in 1972. Fackler subsequently taught at the University of California, Berkeley (1960-1962) and Case Western Reserve University (1962-1982) and as a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1969) before deciding to join Cotton at Texas A&M, where both remained throughout their prolific careers that revolutionized inorganic chemistry and related disciplines.