Remembering Dr. Fred Kakis - Holocaust survivor, chemist

Fred Kakis, Ph.D., professor emeritus of chemistry, passed away Sept. 1 at his home in Palm Springs. A Holocaust survivor, he left Greece when he was still a young boy when, despite his age, he was actively engaged in underground activities against the Nazis. Dr. Kakis enjoyed a distinguished career as a scholar and a teacher. His career at Chapman, from 1964 to 1989, spanned years of major growth and change.

At Chapman, Dr. Kakis was head of the Department of Chemistry and also chair of the Division of Natural Sciences. He also was associate vice president of what was then called the Residence Education Centers, now Brandman University.

Dr. Kakis donated a significant collection to Leatherby Libraries. The Frederic J. Kakis papers consist of four series that date to the 1960s. The series deals with Dr. Kakis’ expertise in the field of forensics relating to the insurance industry, his academic writing in the field of chemistry, his career at Chapman College/University and the publishing information on his two books: Drugs: Facts and Fictions, and Legacy of Courage, which chronicles the adventures and survival of his Greek-Jewish family who refused to submit to the Germans.
Last year, one of Dr. Kakis’ students, emergency medical specialist Richard T. Pitts, D.O., ’70, made a pledge that made it possible to name a room in Dr. Kakis’ honor in the Leatherby Libraries.

On hearing of his death, Dr. Pitts said: “Surviving his rigorous classes were fundamental for my success in medical school and as a practicing physician. If ever the term ‘sui generis’ applied to an individual, it would apply to Fred Kakis. I will miss him.”

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