Amid the steady hum of machines in his laboratory at Robert A. Pritzker Science Center, Illinois Tech Research Professor of Chemistry James Kaduk is often found working alone, analyzing new materials. As a crystallographer, Kaduk spends much of his time determining the arrangement and composition of molecules in crystals. This work helps scientists understand a material’s properties and behaviors.
“I describe myself as a strange sort of analytical chemist,” says Kaduk. “Crystallography is its own discipline. It doesn’t really get taught anywhere, so you have to do it yourself.”
Kaduk's career spans nearly five decades, focusing on crystalline materials' structure using X-ray powder diffraction. He has also taught chemistry at Illinois Tech and North Central College and worked in research roles at Amoco and BP.
The Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) recognized Kaduk's contributions by electing him as an AAAS fellow. He was part of the 2024 class consisting of 471 scientists, educators, and innovators. The AAAS honored him “for achievements in advancing materials analysis using powder diffraction, and for service to the crystallography community through leadership and education.”
“It’s a great honor,” says Kaduk. “To be recognized by a general organization rather than by more specific ones, it means something to get recognized in a larger universe.”
Kaduk examines X-ray diffraction patterns to provide information about materials' chemical and physical properties. While he has done other work in chemistry, he realized during his time at Amoco that he preferred understanding what he had made over creating it.
He also maintains a database of samples identified over the years at Poly Crystallography—a consulting company he founded in 2009—where he serves as president.
“Poly Crystallography is my one-man consulting company,” says Kaduk. “In a sense, I generate training data for artificial intelligence. I generate new information.”
Tracking these samples aids industries like pharmaceuticals and petroleum by facilitating quantitative analysis and transparency about product materials.
“Remarkably, many pharmaceutical crystal structures are unpublished,” says Kaduk. “The companies keep them as trade secrets, but there’s nothing stopping somebody like me determining the crystal structure, publishing it, and then everybody can use it.”
Kaduk traces his roots back to X-ray powder diffraction's invention: “My father was a GI Bill chemical engineer in World War II... My mother was a technician in the X-ray diffraction lab... Powder diffraction was also invented at General Electric….In a way, I can trace my history all the way back to the very beginning.”