The C o v e r . . .
Charles Lathrop Parsons Marston Taylor Bogert T W O of t h e greatest personalities in American chemistry— men whose lives have been intimately bound u p in the affairs of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY for over half a century—
will be honorary oo-chairmen of next month's Diamond Jubilee Meeting. They are Charles L. Parsons, former Secretary of the ACS, and Marston T . Bogert, twi.'e President o! the ACS. Few men have added so much to the stature of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.
At official Diamond Jubilee ceremonies on Sept. 3, D r . Parsons will unveil a bronze plaque marking the site where 75 years ago the Society held its first meeting. Two days later, Dr. Bogert, on behalf of the ACS» will acknowledge the greetings of scores of delegates from technical societies the world over. Surely no more appropriate persons could have been chosen t o serve a s key figures at these historic events - f o r , in the minds of countless chemists both in this country and abroad, the names of Parsons
vigor at his command. T o a considerable extent, his plea for unity was heeded. "His theory " an associate once said, "was that while it might be well for chemists to split atoms, it was not well for chemists t o become atomized." T o Parsons' everlasting credit, the Society remained united, strengthened b y t h e very diversity of its far-flung interests In September 1912, Dr Parsons moved his office to Washing ton and. in the succeeding years, worked continually to promote the best interests of chemists and chemical engineers. During
and Bogert and the eminence of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
have been virtually synonymous. Throughout their busy, far-ranging careers. Parsons and Bogert have worked as a team. Theirs has been a consuming in terest in the welfare of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.
In
the cause of the chemical profession, they have marched o n t o gether. Charles Lathrop Parsons Parsons, a New Englander bv birth, received his Β S. degree from Cornell in 1888. Two years later, he became an instructor in chemistry at the University of New Hampshire. In 1892, a t the youthful age of 25, he was apjxdnted head of the university's department of chemistry. A lively advocate of scientific educa tion, Parsons once touched off a bristling campus controversy b y quietly suggesting that the hours >f prayer in required chapels be shortened to allow his pupils to spend more» time in their labo ratories. At t h e Chicago meeting in 1893, attended b y 182 chemists, Dr.
Parsons joined t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.
I n the
ensuing years, he undertook his detailed studies of atomic weights, the compounds of beryllium, the fixation of nitrogen, and t h e extraction of radium from its ores. In 1905, in honor of his pioneering work on beryllium, Dr. Parsons was presented with the Nichols Medal, an award which was bestowed upon Dr. Bogert in the following year for his study of the quinazolines. In 1907, during D r . Bogert's first term as President of the ACS, D r . Parsons became Secretary of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. A t first, this was strictly a part-tinv» ; - v · for D r . Parsons, who continued on as chemistry professor *t the univer sity. However, by 1911, the increasing pressure of his ACS duties forced him t o relinquish his teaching responsibilities. Dr. Parsons inherited a crisis the moment he hung up his hat as ACS Secretary. Many highly vocal chemists in those days were busy advocating that the Society be broken up into an assortment of separate, more specialized technical organizations. D r Parsons fought the threat of ACS disintegration with all the
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A t the 5 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y M e e t i n g o f the* A C S i n Phila d e l p h i a i n 1 9 2 6 , S e c r e t a r y Parsons poses w i t h past presidents E d w a r d C . Franklin a n d Edgar Fahs Smith World War I , Parsons became a foremost figure in the govern ment's nitrogen program, for several years serving also as chief chemist of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. fTo many during World War I, it seemed inevitable that the
D r . Parsons w a s p r e sented with a testimon i a i volume f r o m his associates u p o n his r e t i r e m e n t in 1 9 4 6
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