Takeru Higuchi (January 1, 1918 – March 24, 1987) was an American chemist who was widely known as "the father of physical pharmacy". He invented the time-release medication capsule, which would release medicine slowly into the bloodstream.

Biography

Higuchi was born on January 1, 1918, near

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Most of the city's growth ...

, and completed his Bachelor of Chemistry with Honors in 1939 at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

and his doctorate in physical and

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

in 1943 at the University of Wisconsin. He worked as a research chemist at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

, and in 1947 joined the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

as an assistant professor. In 1961, he published the Higuchi equation, which models the rate at which an ointment releases its

medication Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmaco ...

. In 1964, he was made the university's Edward Kremmer Professor of Pharmacy. In 1967 he joined the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

as its Regents Professor of

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, and was founding chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry until 1983. He died at the University of Missouri-Columbia Hospital and Clinics when was 69 years old.

Awards and honors

Higuchi was widely honored, including: * 1969 – awarded the Scheele Award * 1981 – the

American Pharmacists Association The American Pharmacists Association (APhA, previously known as the American Pharmaceutical Association), founded in 1852, is the first-established professional society of pharmacists in the United States. The association consists of more tha ...

established the Takeru Higuchi Research Prize * 1983 – awarded the

Remington Medal The Remington Honor Medal, named for eminent community pharmacist, manufacturer, and educator Joseph P. Remington (1847–1918), was established in 1918 to recognize distinguished service on behalf of American pharmacy during the preceding year, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higuchi, Takeru 1918 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American chemists 20th-century American pharmacists pharmacists from California People from Los Altos, California University of Kansas faculty University of California alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni