In Memoriam: Prof. Dr. Dionysios D. Dionysiou (1966–2023)

The catalysis community lost a valued and respected member on 20 November 2023, when Dionysios (Dion) Dionysiou passed away at the age of 57 years old. Dion was an Environmental Engineering Professor and a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Cincinnati.

He was a leader in developing methods for monitoring and treating water pollution and had more than 600 publications, which have been cited more than 68,000 times. Through these publications, he amassed an h-index of 148 (Google Scholar). These statistics alone cannot do justice to Dion’s career, but they do provide context for his influence.

Some of his most impactful papers are related to radical generation and the use of radicals for the degradation of organic water contaminants. His paper, “Radical Generation by the Interaction of Transition Metals with Common Oxidants” (2004), has been cited over 2800 times, while another paper, “Degradation of Organic Contaminants in Water with Sulfate Radicals Generated by the Conjunction of Peroxymonosulfate with Cobalt” (2003), has been cited over 1600 times. He also wrote a number of timely and heavily cited reviews that help educate practitioners in the field. For example, in 2006, he wrote the review “Assessing the Risks of Manufactured Nanomaterials” in Environmental Science and Technology to present the latest research on the potential threat nanomaterials could play to human and environmental health at a time when there was an explosion of interest in using nanomaterials in industrial applications.

For his contributions to the development of technologies to treat water contamination, Dion was awarded the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water in 2022, The Outstanding Publication Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, and the Sustainable Water Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry. His outstanding research mentorship was recognized when he received the W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Faculty Adviser Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievements for Advancement of Environmental Protection in 2021.

Dion was a key part of the founding and growth of Catalysts. He joined the Editorial Board soon after the journal was founded in 2013. Not only did he provide valuable service to the journal by helping to guide its growth in the early days, but he also helped to establish Catalysts as a viable, respected journal by lending his name to its editorial board. Catalysts has thrived in the area of environmental catalysis (currently listed as Q1 in General Environmental Science) to a large extent because of Dion’s involvement.

Dion Dionysiou will be missed by his family, friends, colleagues, co-authors, and the entire catalysis community.