Professor Dr. Yuzhuo Li, Potsdam, NY, age 54, passed away after a sudden illness on November 14th 2012 in Mannheim, Germany, with his wife by his side. Arrangements are made with Garner Funeral Home in Potsdam, NY.

Yuzhuo was born on February 28th, 1958 in Tianjin, China. He received his undergraduate degree in polymer chemistry from Nankai University and his doctorate degree in organic chemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Yuzhuo joined the chemistry faculty at Clarkson University in 1990 and was recognized for his accomplishments with numerous honors including the Outstanding New Teacher Award in 1993, the John W. Graham, Jr. Faculty Research Award in 1997, the Outstanding Advisor Award in 1997 and the CUSA Outstanding Teaching Award in 1998. He had mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students at Clarkson University. He was also the writer and editor of over 100 publications and inventor of over 60 patents.

Yuzhuo was a leading expert in the area of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). Since 2008, he served as Head of R&D for Global Business Electronic Materials at BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

Yuzhuo was survived by his wife Ning Gao, son Eugene, and six brothers and sisters.