Nicolaos Epiotis, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Washington, died July 17, 2015, at the age of 71.

Born in Athens, Greece, in 1944, Epiotis attended Athens College, an American school. After graduating, he attended Ripon College in Wisconsin for two years and graduated summa cum laude in 1965. He then received a master’s degree from Harvard in 1967, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton in 1972. Epiotis taught organic chemistry at the University of Washington from 1972 until he achieved emeritus status in 2008.

Alfred P. Sloan and Alexander von Humboldt awards were among his honors. He wrote several books and numerous papers in national and international scholarly journals. A theoretical scientist, his critically acclaimed book, Deciphering the Chemical Code, challenged the conventional theories of chemical bonding.

Shortly after the book was published in 1996, Epiotis was diagnosed with the first of a series of brain tumors that plagued him until his death.

Epiotis is survived by his devoted wife, Linda Daniel; and an extended family in the United States and Greece.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.