Northwestern professor takes on ‘forever chemicals,’ and he just might win

William Dichtel, a Northwestern University chemistry professor whose research found a way to destroy “forever chemicals,” which can cause adverse health effects, in his laboratory at Northwestern in Evanston. (Pat Nabong / Sun-Times)

As a kid, William Dichtel developed two great lifelong loves — for swimming and science — that he has pursued with an abiding passion.

Now a Northwestern University chemistry professor, Dichtel, 43, swims in Lake Michigan almost every morning and holds a record for swimming the entire length of the Chicago shoreline.