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Personal Recollections of Frank C. Whitmore by Charles D. Hurd Edited by James G. Traynham Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
In 1987, the centenary of Frank C. Whitmore's birth, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Divisions of History of Chemistry and Organic Chemistry co-sponsored a symposium on Whitmore and his contributions to chemistry (1). An article (2) based on the paper I presented in that symposium prompted Charles D. Hurd to write me about his recollections of Whitmore. Their careers overlapped at two universities during 1918-1929. Professor Hurd's correspondence is revealing about differing emphases in chemical education and the academic career ladder at that time as well as the flawed thought that may attend the early development of a seminal idea. The main body of this account is a slightly edited reproduction of that correspondence, undertaken with Professor Hurd's encouragement after he declined my suggestion that he prepare a paper about his recollections for publication. Charles DeWilt Hurd Charles DeWitt Hurd, born 10 years after Whitmore, was an active faculty member at Northwestern University for 41 years (1924-19651, and he has been professor emeritus for 27 years. At age 95 he continues to correspond cogently about chemistry Born in Utica, NY, he received two degrees from nearby Syracuse University: BS in 1918 and an honorary DSc in 1943. He enrolled as a graduate student first at the University of Minnesota, while Whitmore was an assistant professor there, but he moved (with his
professor, Lauder William Jones) to Princeton to complete the PhD degree (1921). He then spent three years as instructor at the University of Illinois before going to Northwestern University as assistant professor, while Whitmore was acting head of the Chemistry Department there. Promoted to associate professor in 1928, while Whitmore was head of the Department, and to professor in 1933, Hurd was subsequently appointed sequentially to two chaired professorships: Morrison Professor of Chemistry, 19491951, and Chare Hamilton Hall Research Professor of Organic Chemistry, 1951-1965. He retired in 1965. At Northwestern university, a distinguished annual lectureship, now in its 21st "vear.. and scholarshi~sfor excellence in undergraduate research, initiated in 1991, are named in his honor. Early in his career, Hurd published a book on the pyrolysis of carbon compounds, which established his eminent reputation in that area of organic chemistry. In the preface to that book he wrote: 'The author is particularly indebted to Frank C. Whitmore of ~orthwest& university for his active interest at the start of this undertakine ., and for many helpful features during the progress of the work"(31. Subsequently Hurd's research publications dealing with Presented at the Fourth Chemical Congress of North America. New York, NY, Aug. 27,1991;paper HISTG.
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carbohydrate and heterocyclic chemistry and his wntributions' to organic chemical nomenclature made him esteemed by other workers in those areas. As the senior facu l t y member in Chemistry at Northwestern University in the late 1940's (when I was a graduate student there), and with a n enviable reputation and group o f w-workers in research, he was a n inspiring teacher o f the undergraduate organic chemistry wurse, which was attended by several graduate students just for the learning experience. Frank Clifford Whitmore Frank Clifford Whitmore, born in North Attleboro, MA, in 1887, received his BA(1911). MA(19121, and PhD(1914) degrees from H a w a r d university. H e was' a n instructor at Williams College and a t Rice Institute (now University) before beaming assistant professor at the University o f Minnesota in 1918. In 1920 he moved to Northwestern University as professor, became acting head of the Chemistry Department in 1924, when H u r d joined the faculty, and was head in 19251929. While both men were members of that department, Whitmore was also active in ACS affairs. Hc was secretarv uf the Division o f Oreanic Chemi s t r y (1925-19291, h a i j u s t been chair of h ;e division (19231, and was a director o f the Society (1928-1939). In 1929 Whitmore moved to Pennsylvania State College (now University) as Dean of the School o f Chemistry and Physics.
which then reacted with solvent, water or alcohol. In 1920 a chemistry faculty opening at Northwestern Universitv aooeared. and the chairman (W. Lee Lewis) offered the p i s ~ t ~ dtonWhmore as f ~ lprofessor l When ~ e s hleft in 1924 lto oecome dwector of researcn at the lnst~tuteol American eat Packers, Chicago] Whitmore became chairman and offered me the job. (I was then at Illinois.) Whitmore and I both applied successfully for newly initiated research grants from the American Petroleum Institute. His was on the conversion of alcohols to olefins, and mine was on the pyrolysis of alkanes and alkenes. Now here is where the Whitmore story comes in. His reaction of alcohols with acids protonated the OH group to
H20was lost to form
The charged carbon stole H from the neighboring atom to make the latter the charged carbon, after which H+was lost to form the olefin, RCH = CH2. Whitmore finally got to
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Hurd's Recollections Whitmore and I got to know each other at the University of Minnesota. Frank had earned his PhD dearee in 1914 at Harvard under C. Loring Jackson. He then taught at Williams and Rice before being appointed assistant professor at Minnesota W. Jones. whitmore had just spent a in 1918 by ~ean-~a'u'der half year in Washington, DC, in the research division of the Chemical Warfare Service, which was directed by Jones, who evidently commuted between Washington and Minneapolis. During my two years at Minnesota I worked with Jones, who then transferred to Princeton and took me along. If Wnitmore was t a ~ g h tanytnmg about organic theory at Harvard, apparently I ttle or none of it stuck, o ~att M nnesota it was nard not to get some via Jones. My research had to ao w~ththe mechanism of tne Lossen rearranqementof nvdroxamicacids. Jones thouoht that it involved what he called aCcunivalent nitrogen intermGdiate",
but now there was no H atom to wander. If anything, it would have to be an R group that wandered. He studied neopentyl alcohol and found that 2-methyl
