Csaba Horváth (25 January 1930 – 13 April 2004) was a
Hungarian-American
Hungarian Americans (, ) are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people with ethnic Hungarian backgroun ...
chemical engineer
A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...
, particularly noted for building the first
high-performance liquid chromatograph.
Early life and education
Csaba Horváth was born in
Szolnok
Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...
, Hungary and graduated in
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
from the
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
Institute of Technology
An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...
. In 1956 he went to
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
to work for
Hoechst AG
Hoechst AG () was a German chemicals, later life sciences, company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiar ...
. He then studied
physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...
at the
J.W. Goethe University in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, receiving his
Ph.D. in 1963.
Career
In 1964 he joined
Yale School of Medicine
The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. It is the sixth-oldest m ...
. From 1967 he also had an appointment in the
Faculty of Engineering. In 1972 he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
, becoming full Professor in 1979 and Chair of the Department from 1987 to 1993. He was named as
Roberto Goizueta
Roberto Críspulo Goizueta Cantera (November 18, 1931 – October 18, 1997) was a Cuban-born American business executive who served as the chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Coca-Cola Company from August 1980 until his ...
Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1998. He died on 13 April 2004, at
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the second-largest hospital in the United States and one of the List of hospitals by capacity, largest in the world. It is the primary teaching hospi ...
of a stroke.
Professor Horvath had an abiding interest in the advancement of the careers of young scientists, and has been memorialized by the establishment of the Csaba Horvath Young Scientist Award for the best presentation by a scientist under the age of 35 at the International Symposium on High Performance Liquid Separations and Related Techniques (HPLC) meeting. The award is sponsored by HPLC, Inc.
Work

Having worked in industry in the pilot plant of
Farbwerke Hoechst AG and then on the surface chemistry of organic
pigment
A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...
s, he studied for a
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
at
Goethe University
Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...
in
gas-liquid chromatography
Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for Separation process, separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without Chemical decomposition, decomposition. Typical uses of GC include t ...
, a method of separating volatile materials for
chemical analysis
Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separa ...
. He applied his knowledge of
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
science to improving the technology, and developed support-coated open tubular (SCOT) columns which were widely used until supplanted by further developments in capillary columns. He continued to be involved in developments in
gas-liquid chromatography
Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for Separation process, separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without Chemical decomposition, decomposition. Typical uses of GC include t ...
in his later career.
However, it was while at
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
and
Yale School of Medicine
The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. It is the sixth-oldest m ...
that he appreciated the need for analytical separation of biological compounds which could not be vaporized, and this led to the application of his particular understanding of separation processes to vastly improve the performance of liquid
chromatography
In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the Separation process, separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the ''mobile phase'', which carries it ...
. Thus was created high performance liquid chromatography or HPLC, a technique which became a major field of study (and in which he remained a leading figure), and continued to publish till shortly before his death.
Together with Imre Molnar and Wayne Melander he developed the framework for describing retention mechanisms in reversed phase chromatography (RPLC), employing the framework of the solvophobic theory. As HPLC and RPLC became the preeminent techniques associated with biochemical analysis, many have suggested that Csaba Horvath inexplicably missed inclusion in the ranks of Nobel laureates. He worked on other methods of analytical separation of biological materials, notably
electrophoresis
Electrophoresis is the motion of charged dispersed particles or dissolved charged molecules relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric field. As a rule, these are zwitterions with a positive or negative net ch ...
and
displacement chromatography, but also was influential in developing
biochemical engineering within the Chemical Engineering Department at
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
.
He published about 300 papers and held 9 patents. He was a member of the
United States National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the ...
. He received many other honors and awards and is remembered in the Horváth Laboratory of Separation Science
at
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
.
Personal life
In 1963, Horváth married Valeria Scioscioli in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and they emigrated to the United States. He joined the Physics Research Laboratory at
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
. The couple had two daughters.
References
Sources
L. S. Ettre (2004) ''American Laboratory'', May 2004, pages 4-6In memoriam: Csaba Horváth
A. Guttman (2000) ''American Laboratory'', June 2000, pages 6-10 Happy Birthday Csaba Horváth
Nobel Prize Winners and Famous Hungarians: Science, Mathematics & Technology
*
*
* Claudia Flavell-White ''The Chemical Engineer'' October 2010 pp 54–55 "Degrees of Separation: Chemical Engineers who Changed the World - Csaba Horváth"
* ''An Introduction to Separation Science'', (1973) B.L. Karger, Cs. Horváth and L.R. Snyder, Wiley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horvath, Csaba
Hungarian physical chemists
Hungarian chemical engineers
Hungarian emigrants to the United States
20th-century Hungarian inventors
Harvard Medical School people
1930 births
2004 deaths
Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science faculty
20th-century American inventors