Wolfgang Ostwald, the founder of colloid chemistry, was born in Riga, Latvia, and educated at the Universities of Leipzig and of California (Berkeley), In 1907 he became lecturer in biology at Leipzig, and in 1915 professor of colloid chemistry. He was appointed director of the colloid chemistry division of the physical-chemical institute at Leipzig in 1923, and was promoted to full professor in 1935. Ostwald applied his explanations of basic properties and behaviour of colloids to special problems of substances like bread and rubber. By initiating journals, organizing societies, and lecturing, particularly in America, he gained international recognition for colloid chemistry as an independent field.