Joseph Bunnett was born in Portland, Oregon, on November 26, 1921. He attended Wilkes Grade School and Washington High School. He graduated with a BA in chemistry from Reed College in 1942, obtaining his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Rochester in 1945.

During his career, Bunnett first worked as a Research Chemist for Western Pine Association, 1945-46. From 1946 through 1952, he taught at Reed College, then at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, from 1952 to 58, Brown University from 1958 to 1966, and finally at the University of California, Santa Cruz, 1966 through 1991, where he is an emeritus professor.

One of Bunnett’s fields of interest is the destruction or detection of chemical warfare agents. While a professor, Bunnett was appointed to many national and international bodies dealing with the political aftermath of the break-up of the Soviet Union and its military arsenal. He served as Chairman of the IUPAC Task Force on Scientific Aspects of the Destruction of Chemical Warfare Agents, 1991-95, as a member of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Persian Gulf War Health Effects, 1993-94, and as co-editor of Arsenic and Old Mustard: Chemical Problems in the Destruction of Old Arsenical and “Mustard” Munitions (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998). Bunnett is also a member of the “Temporary Working Group” on Chemical Weapons Destruction, reporting to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), 1999-.

Bunnett served on the editorial advisory boards of many journals, including: Journal of Chemical Education, Journal of Organic Chemistry, and Accounts of Chemical Research.

Bunnett has received many awards and honors, including election to Phi Beta Kappa in 1942 (Reed College), election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959, and the Rochester Distinguished Scholar Medal, University of Rochester, 1995. Bunnett died May 22, 2015.