Dr. Tetsuo Nozoe was born on May 16, 1902, in Sendai City, Japan, the sixth of eleven children born to Juichi and Toyoko Nozoe. Nozoe's early schooling was punctuated with periods of private tutoring because he had several serious illnesses. Mr. Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Nozoe's middle school chemistry teacher, catalyzed his interest in chemistry so much that he set up a "laboratory" in the backyard. Because Nozoe's father, a lawyer, was also involved in local politics, Nozoe had the opportunity to meet famous scientists such as Professor Hans Molisch and Dr. Albert Einstein. These interactions cemented his desire to study chemistry. His parents finally agreed and allowed him to enroll at Tohoku Imperial University, which was near his home. Here he worked with Professor Majima on his undergraduate research on the synthesis of thyroxine, resulting in Nozoe's first two journal publications.

In 1926, Tetsuo Nozoe left Japan to work for the Government Monopoly Bureau Research Laboratories in Taipei, Formosa (now Taiwan), under Dr. Kafuku. He isolated terpenes from leaves. He later married Kyoko Horiuchi, Dr. Kafuku's niece. They had four children.

Nozoe became an assistant professor at Taihoku Imperial University (in Taipei) in 1929, where he began his own research program on saponins and sapogenins. He pioneered the use of UV spectroscopy on colorless natural products in order to aid the elucidation of their structure. For the next several years, he worked on the separation, identification and isolation of the components of wool wax, from which he obtained ten patents. At the same time, Nozoe was involved in research on pigments found in the essential oils he isolated during his earlier work with Dr. Kafuku.

World War II interrupted Nozoe's research. In addition, Formosa was returned to the Chinese and Taihoku Imperial University became National Taiwan University. Fortunately Nozoe was able to remain there and reconstruct his laboratory. He put together a large research group whose researchers determined that Hinokitiol consisted of a seven-membered aromatic ring structure.

In 1948 Dr. Tetsuo Nozoe was repatriated to Japan to Tohoku University in Sendai where his group synthesized and characterized the seven-membered aromatic ring compound, tropolone. Soon Nozoe's group became the leader in the newly established field of troponoid chemistry.

In 1958 Dr. Tetsuo Nozoe was awarded Japan's most prestigious medal, the Order of Cultural Merit. Prior to that he received the Majima Award in 1944, the Asahi Cultural Award in 1952 and the Japan Academy Award in 1953.

Tetsuo Nozoe retired in 1966. Several symposia have been given in his honor following his death on April 4, 1996.

Nozoe, T. Seventy Years in Organic Chemistry; part of the Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams: Autobiographies of Eminent Chemists Series of the American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1991.