JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
AUSTIN McDOWELL PATTERSON (1816-1956) AUSTIN M. PAT~ERSON brought
to chemistry a mind trained in the classics, expertly able to reduce the thoughts of those having other linguistic backgrounds t o common understanding. For more than 50 years he applied these talents ta the problem of international communication and to the creation of a system of classification t o which a chemist could turn and be reasonably sure that he was finding all the references ta the subject under consideration. Austin Patterson was horn in D m s c u s , Syria, the son of a medical missionary. The family returned to Xenia, Ohio, when he was less than a year old and he attended the public schools there. He was aaduated from Princeton Universitv in 1897 His knowledge of Greek, ~ a t i h French, , with ta B.A. in cl&s. and German was to be of greet value to him in his career, as well a s the working knowledge of Arabic he gained from his father. While a freshman he took a required course in chemistry and became so interested in the subject that he took the available chemistry courses in addition ta his classics courses. His caliber a s a student was such that he was confronted with two opportunities upon his graduation: one, a fellowship to continue his olassical studies, and the other, an assistantship in the chemical laboratories of the school of science. He turned both down in favor of The Johns Hopkins University, where three years later he received his Ph.D. in chemistry.
Indians, 190143. The following four years he spent as chemical editor for "Webster's New International Dictionary." His next association was with William A. Noyes, Sr., who was concerned with the organization of Chemical Abstmcts. He became associate editor and later editor, serving in the latter capacity 1909-14. During the early years of World War I he worked on a method of indexine oreanio com~oundsfor Chemical Abst~aets which entailed the development of a complete system of naming organic compounds. This was the beginning of the work for which he was best known. From then until 1952 he served an eight national and international committees on chemical nomen-
clature including that of the International Union of Chemistry In collaboration with Leonard T. Cappell he undertook and completed the painstaking task of listing and cataloguing all of the known ring aystems in organic chemistry. The result of this work was "The Ring Index." He served his government as a memher of Chemical Warfare Service in World War I and as principal speoialist in chemical education far the Engineering Seienoe and Management War Training Commission during World War 11. In 1921 he met Arthur E. Morgan and after Listening to his plans for the reorganization of Antioch College as a completely cooperative liberal-arts college, he joined the faculty as chairman of the chemistry department where he remained until his retirement in 1941. He served as vice-president of the College from 1930 to 1941 and as a trustee 1941-45. He was an active emeritus professor and took part in chemistry department activities until late in 1955. His active participation in community affairs prompted the Xenis. Chamber of Commerce to present him with their 1954 Community Service Award. All chemists know him for his "English-German and EnglishFrench Dictionaries for Chemists," and in later years for the column "Words ahout Words" which appeared in the Chemical and Engineering Neus. In eoll~horatitionwith E. J. Crane of Chemical Abstracts he published "A Guide to the Literature of Chemistry" in 1927. In 1949 he was honored by the Dayton Section of the American Chemical Societv. of which he was a charter member. for his work in documentatio< of chemistry by the establishment of a permanent biennial aawrtrd bearing his name for work in this field. Among his friends, students, and associates he is remembered as a modest, scholarly, and easily approachable person who gave without stint from his highly developed organizational ability, to his community, his college, his government, and the world of chemistry. He impressed everyone he met as one who in every sense of the word could be called a. gentleman. JAMES L CORWIN
