On February 10th, 2021, passed away Professor Andrzej Dworak, a respected scientist, devoted mentor to younger scientists.

Professor Dworak was born on November 30, 1945 in Zabrze. He graduated from the Technical University in Dresden in 1969. He obtained his doctoral degree at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice in 1980, and habilitation at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Warsaw University of Technology in 1998. He was awarded the title of professor of chemical sciences in 2006. He completed research internships abroad as a post-doc in the USA with prof. J. Harwood and in Germany with prof. R.C. Schulz.

For over fifty years of his research work, he was associated with the units of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Initially, he worked at the Institute of Polymers in Zabrze (since 1992, the Center of Polymer Chemistry), and then at the Institute of Carbon Chemistry in Gliwice. Since 2007, at the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials in Zabrze, which was created by merging the above-mentioned scientific institutions. In the years 2000-2012 he was                                                                                        professor at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Opole.

His research interests focused on the study of the mechanisms of oxirane and cyclic imine polymerization and controlled radical polymerization of various types of monomers to obtain macromolecules with carefully planned properties, including polymers sensitive to stimuli. These studies have paved the way for the use of such polymers for the construction of various types of nanomaterials for applications in medicine and pharmacy. The path to such solutions and the results of their operation have been described and patented. He has published nearly 140 publications in international journals in this area, and was the co-author of several patents.

He was the director of the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze (2007-2019) and the head of the Laboratory of Nano- and Microstructure Materials at this Centre from its establishment until 2020. He was the director of the Institute of Carbon Chemistry in Gliwice and the head of the Laboratory of Membrane Separation. He was the head of the Ion Polymerization Laboratory at the Institute of Polymer in Zabrze.

Professor Dworak was a foreign member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the member of Chemistry Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Scientific Council of the Center for Molecular and Macromolecular Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Łódź. He was the vice-president of the Polish Chemical Society (2016-2018), chairman of the Gliwice Branch and the Polymer Section of this Society (2013-2018). He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Polimery magazine and the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

He was the organizer, chairman and member of the scientific committees of the Polymer Seminars in Gliwice, POLYOR2011 and POLYMAT conferences organized cyclically since 1995. He participated in the work of scientific and organizational committees of numerous conferences, the most important of them: "IUPAC International Symposium on Ionic Polymerization" 2007, Kloster Banz, Germany, "IUPAC International Symposium on Ionic Polymerization" 2009, Krakow, "IUPAC International Symposium on Ionic Polymerization" 2011, Akron, OH, USA.

Professor Dworak initiated many national and European projects, in which he carried out research both in the field of basic research, including the preparation and therapeutic use of various types of nanoparticles and polymer nanocontainers carrying various types of active substances. He also managed projects with implementation potential, financed by the National Center for Research and Development, related to the development of efficient media for the cultivation and transfer of cell sheets, which significantly accelerated the processes of burn wound healing.

He initiated the creation of the European PhD Study "Modern Polymer Materials", operating in the years 2001-2010, one of the first of its kind in Poland. He was the coordinator of the regionally important scholarship project "Regional Doctoral Scholarship Fund" - RFSD for outstanding Silesian doctoral students. He lectured for students of doctoral studies. He promoted six doctoral students and over a dozen graduate students.

As an expert, he cooperated with the National Science Center, where he was the chairman of the expert panels, and with the National Center for Research and Development. He was a regular reviewer of several major polymer journals: Macromolecules, JACS, Macromolecular Chemistry, Macromolecular Rapid Communication, Journal of Polymer Science, Polymer. He reviewed many doctoral dissertations, habilitation theses and professor's applications.

He devoted his whole life to science, science was also his passion. In his spare time, he was interested in the culture of the Balkan countries, especially Bulgaria. His warmth and sense of humor allowed him to make friends easily. He had many friends with whom he enjoyed spending time with.

He was an outstanding scientist, but he will remain in our memory as a great supervisor, colleague and friend. His decease is a great loss for his colleagues and for the entire scientific community.