Dr. Robert L. Kay

Robert Kay was born December 13, 1924 in Hamilton, Ontario.  After graduation from high school, he joined the Canadian Army serving for 2 years in WWII (Europe).  After returning from the war, he attended St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto from 1946 through 1952 graduating with a Ph.D. In Chemistry.  On September 20, 1952 he married Ann Morrow and moved to New York City to begin a Merck of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.  He worked as a Research Assistant at Rockefeller Institute until early 1956.  From 1956 through 1963 Robert was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Brown University in Providence, RI. In 1963 he moved to Pittsburgh to serve as a Senior Fellow at Mellon Institute.  He was a Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie-Mellon from 1967 through 1990, becoming Head of the Chemistry Department from 1974 through 1983. He organized the first Gordon Research Conference on the Physics and Chemistry of Water and Aqueous Solutions in 1970.  He started and served as editor for the Journal of Solution Chemistry from 1972 until he was unable to continue due to loss of sight. He retired from CMU in 1990 while remaining active as a Professor Emeritus for many years.  He enjoyed his career immensely. He had four children, David (deceased 1967), Theresa (Randall) Hay, Joanne (Edward) Christie, and Robert Kay Jr.;  loving grandfather of Dr. Margaret Hay, Kathleen Hay, Stuart Hay, Albert Christie and Nicole Christie, Esq.; brother of John Kay, Donald Kay and the late Mary Kennedy; also survived by nieces, nephews and countless students.  He died at home surrounded by family on June 27th 2018 at the age of 93.. Friends will be welcomed at Laughlin Cremation & Funeral Tributes, 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon on Sunday afternoon from 1:00 until 4:00 o’clock. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Saint Anne Church, Monday morning @ 9:30. Interment in Queen of Heaven Cemetery. If desired, memorials may be made to Little Sister of the Poor, 1028 Benton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 or St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

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