Eremenko's papers on the physical chemistry of fine particulate systems and surface phenomena, chemical thermodynamics of alloys and metal compounds, and physicochemical analysis of metal and metallic systems have highly been praised by national and international scientific community. Eremenko's chemical concept of phenomena that occur at interfaces in heterogeneous systems has been brilliantly proven by experiment and widely used in studies focusing on surface phenomena, powder metallurgy processes, compatibility of materials, soldering, etc. The physicochemical constants for simple and complex substances derived from analysis of the phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of metal, metallic, and semiconductor systems have been included into handbooks and are an important, fundamental component of modern materials science. Eremenko's scientific ideas and scientific areas are further elaborated by his school of physical chemists. Keywords: physical chemistry of inorganic materials, scientific school of physical chemists, phase diagram, thermodynamics of metal systems.12 August 2011 marked the 100 th anniversary of Valentin Eremenko's birth. He was an outstanding scholar, whose studies in physicochemical materials science were well known and universally recognized in the former Soviet Union and abroad. Valentin Eremenko was behind the establishment of the Institute for Problems of Materials Science, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and led one of the three major academic areas at that time.The basic areas of physical chemistry that evolved under Eremenko's supervision were a response to challenges associated with the development of powder metallurgy, a new, very promising field of science and technology of that time. Valentin Eremenko formulated them as follows: "The key scientific problem of powder metallurgy is to establish conditions for the formation of a sintered body. The properties of starting components that are then combined in highly heterogeneous systems, the nature of and interaction between the components, and the surface energy, adsorption, and wetting at interfaces are major factors that determine the production environment and properties of sintered bodies (and, consequently, the properties of articles made of them)." This statement reflects the general challenges to be met in developing any new materials: select starting