Rezső Bognár graduated from the József Nádor University of Technology and Economics in Budapest and worked beside Géza Zemplén at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Applied Sciences unil 1950. At the age of 35 he already became a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.  He moved to Debrecen as an academic, where he organised the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University's newly established Faculty of Natural Sciences.  The four decades he has spent in Debrecen have spread far beyond the walls of the institute, since he was rector of the university for a total of five academic years, and vice-rector for seven academic years, both positions he has held on two occasions. He played a particularly significant role in enabling the Debrecen Academic Committee to start its work in 1976 and to build its headquarters in Debrecen.