Naomi Hoshino‐Miyajima was born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, and took her first degree from Ochanomizu University, and then completed an MS at Ochanomizu before moving to Ohio, USA where she completed her PhD with Professor Daryle H. Busch. Her time in the USA was an important influence on her and shaped aspects of her future career. She then returned to Japan and spent a period of 21 years in Hokkaido University working with Professor Yoshio Matsunaga where she started to learn about liquid crystals, studying structure/property relationships and subsequently leading her to some of the pioneering works in metallomesogens.
Her early work in this field concentrated on the study of salicylaldiminato complexes of the transition metals and she completed some elegant studies using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR and EPR) – an interest she shared with her husband, Dr. Seiichi Miyajima. Her review of salicylaldiminato complexes in 1998 was much appreciated by those in the field. The work in this area led naturally to a study of ortho‐metallated systems and here she concentrated on palladium(II) complexes. She also briefly studied some dithiocarbamate systems, too. More recently, her attention turned to chiral additives and she performed some extremely elegant studies using resolved octahedral metal complexes of ruthenium(III), ruthenium(II) and chromium(III) where she demonstrated quite huge helical twisting powers.
Naomi was a central person in the developing metallomesogens community that sprang up in the late 1980s and she regularly presented on her work at the biennial meetings. She was also a key figure when the International Symposium on Metallomesogens was hosted by the Japanese in Tateshina in 2001.
Naomi's health became a cause for concern in 2005, yet typical of her it was something she bore very privately. She died on 26th January 2008 and is survived by her husband, Seiichi.
Those who knew Naomi will remember a gentle, but determined lady of great warmth with a happy smile. They will remember her science, the engaging way she presented it and the intellect that she brought to bear on the problems that she tackled. More than that, however, they will remember a dear friend whose time among us was sadly cut short. Our thoughts go to her family and those closest to her.
In memory of Naomi, a collection of new papers written by her friends, colleagues and collaborators will be bound together and presented to her husband, Dr. Seiichi Miyajima, who could share the scientific interests and values that they present.
