ASSOCIATIONS
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NEWS ACS Candidates for 1953 TV/TEMBERS of
the
AMERICAN
CHEMICAL
**••*• SOCIETY whose brief biographies are given below have been nominated for ACS offices. Ballots will b e sent to ACS members this week.
President-Elect Harry L. Fisher, special assistant to the director of t h e Office of Synthetic Rubber, R F C , on research and development and a nationally known authority on the chemistry of vulcanization of rubber, was born Jan. 19, 1885, in Kingston, N . Y. H e received his undergraduate education at Williams, where he first majored in the classics —it was not until his junior year that he uncovered a thirst for chemistry. He later studied at Columbia, receiving a Ph.D. in 1912. As an instructor at Columbia he conducted several of the early investigations into t h e chemistry and synthesis of rubber and resins. After World War I h e worked at the B. F. Goodrich Co., then joined the staff of the U. S. Rubber Co. In 1936 he was appointed director of organic chemical research at U. S. Industrial Chemicals Co. and Air Reduction Sales Co. In 1940 Dr. Fisher received a Modern Pioneer Award from the National Association of Manufacturers. In 1941 h e was Edgar Marburg Lecturer of the American Society for Testing Materials, and in 1949 h e was given the Charles Goodyear Medal of the ACS Rubber Division for outstanding achievement in rubber chemistry. His membership in the American Chemical Society, which dates from 1910, is studded with many offices. Among them have b e e n chairmanship of the Akron and Western Connecticut Sections and of the Divis'on of Rubber Chemistry. He has been Councilor-at-Large of the Society, and secretary of the Division of Organic Chemistry. He belongs to AAAS, Sigma Xi, and Phi Beta Kappa, and is a fellow of the Institution of t h e Rubber Industry of Great Britain. H e has been president of the American Institute of Chemists and of Phi L a m b d a Upsilon. H e was organizing secretary of the XHth International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry. He developed adhesives for joining rubber to rubber and rubber to metal in the course of investigating the effect of sul-
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furic acid on rubber. H e also used a large number of related materials such as the sulfonic acids and sulfonyl chlorides for producing adhesives. By pursuing the same type of reaction further a series of thermoplastic resinous materials was evolved, among them substitutes for shellac, balata, and gutta percha. H e also developed quinoneimines and secondary aromatic diamines as nonsulfur vulcanizing agents. Some 40 patents have b e e n issued to him, and he i s the author o f "Rubber and Its Use," a "Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry," and m a n y technical articles on organic chemistry and rubber. His major avocations are color photography, hiking, and mountain climbing, in addition to a continued love o f esthetic pursuits and the classics. John Henry Nair, assistant director of research for Thomas J. Liptor* Co., Hoboken, N. J., was born Feb. 2 0 , 1893, in Chicago and grew up in rural Wisconsin. His academic career h e spent at Beloit College, from which he took a B.S. i n chemistry, then i n Wisconsin high schools, teaching chemistry, then at Syracuse University, studying organic and inorganic liquids. His teaching career was interrupted by World War I. His second, o r industrial career, began in 1919, when h e joined Merrell-Soule Co. of Syracuse as research chemist. H e b e came, successively, director o>f the control laboratory and assistant director of the research laboratory. Latex the company became a subsidiary of the Borden Co., and h e served as technical adviser to the sales management. In 1 9 4 2 he left to become assistant director of research for Continental Foods Inc., a subsidiary of his present company. As a scientist* he has published a number of papers in the field of food chemistry and food technology, including the dehydration of foods, fat oxidation, flavor evaluation, and food analysis. He has a number of patents o n these processes. As t o his ACS activities, h e was chairman of the Syracuse Section i n 1926 and was at o n e time editor of trie Syracuse Chemist, Ho w a s chairman o f the Division of Agricultural and F o o d Chemistry in 1036, a member o f the National Council from 1928 t o 1036 and again from 1044 to -1950. He has b e e n chairman of the
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Committee on Revision of Dues ( 1 0 3 3 3 4 ) , chairman of the Committee on Student Affiliates ( 1 0 3 5 - 3 6 ) ; and has been a member of several other national committees. H e has been national councilor from the New York Section since 1044; a director 1043-1051; chairman-elect in 1040; and chairman of the section for 1050. Last year he was nominated by petition for President of the ACS. As chairman of the 75th Anniversary Committee for the ACS Diamond Jubilee Meeting and a member of the Committee on Organization for the X l l t h International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry, he carried through plans for the largest ACS meeting on record. H e has been a member of the ACS since 1020, was founder of the Institute of Food Technologists, and is currently a member of the executive committee of its national council. He is also serving as national councilor of the American Institute of Chemists. H e still has time for civic activities in Summit, N. J., his home, and for the hobbies of philately, gardening, and golf.
Regional Director Second District Ffaymond Eller Kirk has*been head of the chemistry department of the Polytech, v ^ , nic Institute of Brooklyn since 1031 and dean of its graduate school since 1044. His birthplace was Nebraska and he was educated at the University of Nebraska, Iowa State College, and Cornell. He was an assistant and an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, professor and head of the department of chemistry at Montana State College, and state chemist of Montana be r ore joining the Brooklyn Poly faculty. He has been a member of the ACS since 1016 and was chairman of the New York Section 1046-47, Councilor, 1033-35, 1043-46, and 1048-50. Since 1050 he has served as Director from the Second District. He has also been active in the other sections of which he was a member—Ames, Minnesota, and Montana. He is a member of the ACS Council Policy Committee. C . F . Rasswcilcr, vice chairman of the board and vice president for research and development at Johns-Manville Corp., was born in Illinois in 1800. He graduated from the University of Denver in 1020, then taught chemistry and did graduate
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ACS NEWS research at the University of Illinois. In 1924, after taking a Ph.D., he joined the technical staff at the experimental station of the D u Pont Co. and played a prominent part in developing the modifications of Duco sold for household use. In 1927 h e became assistant director of t h e central technical laboratory being organized for the paint and varnish division a n d was director from 1932 to 1941. U n d e r his direction the Philadelphia laboratory played an important part in introducing alkyd resins into t h e paint a n d varnish industry. Since 1941 he has been in full charge of all Johns-Manville's diversified research and development activities. Under his direction the Johns-Manville Research Center has been reorganized, expanded, and provided with entirely new facilities. He joined ACS i n 1934 a n d has been active in the N e w York Section. H e was chairman of the section 1948—49. H e has also held many o t h e r ACS offices, among them chairman of the Committee o n Local Sectional Activities, membership on Committee on Liaison w i t h t h e Department of the Army; Council Policy Committee. H e belongs to t h e AIChE, S C I , T h e Chemists' Club, New York, and numerous other scientific societies.
Regional Director Fifth District John C. Bailar, Jr., was born i n Colorado in 190-4 and attended t h e University of Colorado, w h e r e he received B.A. and M.A. degrees. In 1928 he received a P h . D . from t h e Uni'7 versity of Michigan, then joined t h e University of Illinois faculty a s an instructor in inorganic chemistry. H e bec a m e an assistant professor in 1935, associate professor in 1939, a n d a full professor in 1943. H e is editor of Volume IV of "Inorganic Syntheses" and is a m e m b e r of t h e editorial board of the JACS, H e joined t h e ACS in 1929 and was chairman of the Division of Chemical Education ( 1 9 4 7 ) , of the Division of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry ( 1 9 5 0 ) . H e h a s also b e e n active on the Committee on Professional Training, and has visited many colleges a n d universities in that capacity. H e has held several local section offices. H e is a member of Alpha Chi Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, a n d P h i L a m b d a Upsilon, a n d t h e Electrochemical Society. H e has b e e n chairman of t h e Committee on National Meetings and was chairm a n of the Divisional Officers G r o u p in 1948-49. 4498
E . H . Volwiler, President of t h e A M E R I CAN
CHEMICAL
SOCIETY
in
1950,
and
president of Abbott Laboratories, was e d u cated at Miami University and t h e U n i versity of Illinois. After taking a P h . D . at Illinois h e joined A b b o t t Laboratories in 1918. By 1920 h e h a d b e c o m e chief chemist a n d in 1930 w a s m a d e director of research. This w a s followed b y a vice presidency in charge of research and development, a n d in 1946 he became executive v p . In research, h e contributed significantly in the field of medicinal products. H e has b e e n editor of t h e Chicago Section's Chemical Bulletin, a n d has been a n associate editor of Chemical Reviews. H e is author or coauthor of over 6 0 papers and technical articles. His other ACS activities include chairmanship of the Chicago Section, 1 9 2 4 - 2 5 ; chairmanship of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry, 1924-1925. He was an ACS councilor continuously from 1926 to 1944. H e became a director-at-large in 1944. H e was elected in J u n e of this year to fill out t h e unexpired term of Farrington Daniels as Regional Director of t h e Fifth District. He has been t h e recipient of a n u m b e r of honors, including t h e Modern Pioneers Award, 1940; t h e Honor Scroll of the Chicago chapter of A I C , 1947, and honorary m e m b e r , 1952; a n d honorary D.Sc. degrees from Miami and Northwestern Universities.
Entropy Clock Wins A w a r d In Cleveland Section This year's a w a r d in the ACS Cleveland Section's Annual Creative Chemistry Contest was won b y Robert Emrich of Cleveland Heights High School. First prize, a
$100 government bond, w e n t to Mr. Emrich for his working model of an entropy clock which makes possible t h e s t u d y of entropy in an isolated system. According to R. L . Uber, his high school instructor, t h e apparatus is a timing d e vice by which the rate of diffusion of liquids can be determined. T h e clock d e termines the time interval of t h e process. T h e different liquids are p l a c e d into stora g e tanks at t h e back of t h e a p p a r a t u s a n d flow into the diffusion tank at t h e front. T h e final point of diffusion is reached w h e n t h e temperatures of t h e t h r e e t h e r mometers, o n e at each e n d a n d o n e from t h e top center, a r e identical, t h e liquids b e i n g at different initial t e m p e r a t u r e s . T h e second prize of a $50 b o n d was a w a r d e d to William T e s m e r of Shaker Heights High School for his process of converting waste b a n a n a stems into a strong, heavy paper. T h i r d a n d fourth prizes, each a $25 bond, w e n t to Dennis Vanek of Berea High School a n d Peter Orner of Cleveland Heights H i g h School, respectively. Six honorable mention awards were also granted.
Winners o f A t l a n t i c C i t y Bridge Tournament Announced T h e b r i d g e t o u r n a m e n t a t t h e recent Atlantic City meeting a t t r a c t e d some 128 players. T w o sections of 16 tables each w e r e in play and t h e h a n d s w e r e scored on a comparison basis according t o regular duplicate bridge rules. T h e winners in each section -were: Section A. North-South: F . Scofield, Washington, and J. K. W i s e , Chicago. East-West: R. P . Fellman a n d E . F . Riener, Philadelphia. Section B. North-South: A. M. Neal a n d P. W o o d w o r t h , D u Pont. E a s t - W e s t : M . Torok, C a m b r i d g e , Mass., and B. Supinski, U p p e r Montclair, N . J.
Robert Emrich shown with his winning m o d e l of an entropy clock i n t h e Cleveland Section's Annual Creative Chemistry Contest. T h e clock times t h e diffusion of liquids. T h e final point of diffusion is reached w h e n t h e t e m p e r a t u r e s of the t h r e e t h e r m o m e t e r s , one at each e n d and o n e from t h e t o p center, are identical
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