Obituary Prof. Françoise Winnik

Obituary Prof. Françoise Winnik 

Prof. Françoise Winnik passed away a few days ago. She was found unconscious on the floor in her home in Helsinki and did not regain consciousness.

Prof. Winnik was raised in France and earned an undergraduate degree in Mulhouse. She was a PhD student with Prof. Peter Yates at U. Toronto. After working many years at the Xerox Research Centre in Mississauga, she became a faculty member at McMaster University, and then moved to the University of Montreal. She retired there a couple of years ago and took up a new position at the University of Helsinki.

Over her academic career, she developed strong interactions with Japan and served as a Satellite Principle Investigator at the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics in Tsukuba. She made numerous contributions in the areas of reactive nanoparticles, polymer synthesis and properties, and was very active in the chemistry community, including serving as the Editor in Chief at Langmuir for many years.  Her most recent publication was on boron nitride nanotubes targeting glioblastoma multiforme [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtchem.2020.100270]. She was a good friend of the SPM and a very enthusiastic PPC council member. We wish her soul rests in peace !