Włodzimierz Kołos (1928 - 1996) was a Polish chemist and physicist who was one of the founders of modern quantum chemistry, and pioneered accurate calculations on the electronic structure of molecules.

The University of Warsaw and the Polish Chemical Society award the Kołos Medal every two years to commemorate his life and career.

One result attracted particular attention[citation needed]: the calculated dissociation energy disagreed with the best experimental data then available, from Gerhard Herzberg’s group.

This was the first time that quantum mechanical calculations on a molecule had proved more accurate than the best experiments[citation needed].

Kołos established a strong research group in molecular quantum chemistry in Warsaw, and made many other important contributions, particularly in the field of intermolecular forces.