Ernest H. Volwiler and His Career D. Stanley Tarbell and Ann T. Tarbell Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235
Ernest H. Volwiler (1893-19921 received one of the early 1'hU's in organic chemistry frum the University of Illinois.' At Abbutt Laburaturies (1918-19591 he became one of the creators of the modem American pharmaceutical industry. Volwiler's parents were German emigrants who operated a 40-acre farm near Hamilton. Ohio. where Ernest was born in 1893. They were frugal and ha*d working. Ernest writes that "being brought up on the farm was the greatest blessing that could have occurred." This feeling was apparently because he loved the outdoors and found hard physical iabor congenial, but he had nu wish to make farming his life work. His parents encouraged him to get a n education, and he attended a one-room schoolhouse for the first eight grades then walked four miles to high school in Okeana. With a shotrun he had bouvht. - . he hunted rabbits, squirrels, and quail with some success on his hikes to and from school. He speaks most gratefully of his high school teachers, Mr. a n d Mrs. Goshorn. E a r n i n g a teacher's certificate, he taught all eight grades in a oneroom school for a year, a n experience he enjoyed. His older brother Albert had gone to Miami University (of Ohio) and Ernest entered there in 1911. He attended summer school in 1910 and 1911, taking chemistry and histor, courses. Because his parents had insisted that the children speak German p a n of the time at home, Volwiler, with some additional study, was able to receive 20 credit hours in German. This, with his summer school credits, enabled him to graduate from Miami in three years. His interest in chemistry was aroused by J. C. Hessler, a visitine ~rofessorin summer school and later resident of ~ a m e s - ~ i l l i k aUniversity, n and by George ~ b e r f e l of l the Miami faculty, later vice-president of Phillips Petroleum. James E. Eagan (Illinois PhD 1913 with Balke), who t a w h t organic chemistw a t Miami, urged - Volwiler to take gra&atebork in chemistry. Volwiler accepted a teaching assistantship a t Illinois in 1914 for $300 per year (later raised to $400 and $500) and did research for C. G. Derick for a master's degree which he received in 1916. When he entered Illinois there were about five graduate students in the organic division. Volwiler took a course in organic chemistry from Derick, in physical chemistry from E. W. Washburn, and had some work in electrical e n g i n e e ~ g . Derick left Illinois in 1916 for a position in industrial research, and Volwiler received a n offer of $1800 for a job with a n ink company. He had planned to do research with 'The most useful sources for Volwiler's career (aside from the usual reference books) are a talk by Roger Adams before the American Section, Society of Chemical Industry in 1954; a manuscript autobiography by Volwiler (-1980);and an interview by J. J. Bohning of 1980. If we give no reference for a statement. it is based on these autobiographical sources. Volwiler's lectures and papers during his administrative years at Abbott show his principles of directing research, as well as his habits of study and his personality. We are indebted to his daughter, Marjorie V. Grinneli, for copies of the autobiography and interview, and to T. J. Perun of Abbott Laboratories for copies of his lectures and papers. His career at Abbott is discussed by Kogan. H. The Long White Line, The StoryofAbboti LaboratoHes; Random House: New York, 1963. Our book, Essays on the Histoty of Organic Chemistry in the United States, 18751955; Folio Press: Nashville, TN, 1986, contains further information.
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Derick's successor, Roger Adams. However, the industrial salary would allow him to marry his fiancee, Lillian Huggler, whom he had met in the chemistry department a t Illinois. Miss Huggler wished him to continue graduate work there, his parents advised him against leaving, and Roger Adams was cautious in his comments. The balance was tipped by a vigorous conversation from the German glass blower a t Illinois, Paul Anders, who told him that he would be a "damn fool" to leave Illinois. I n Germany a chemist without a PhD would not get the top position, and it would soon be the same in this countw. Convinced bv Anders, Volwiler decided to stay with ~ d a for k his P ~ IIe and Miss Huggler were mamed in 1920. Derick had started a project a t nlinois in the summer of 1914 to prepare oreanic com~oundsneeded in teachine and research, hiring graduatk students for 25 cents & hour. This activity became more important after war broke out in Europe in August 1914, cutting off supplies of organic chemicals from Germany. Volwiler worked a t making r this "preps" in the summer of 1915 and was s u p e ~ s o of program in 1916 and 1917, under Adams'directionin 1917. Carl S. Marvel worked on the preps project from 1916 to 1919 (1). Volwiler said, My mast vivid recollection of the labs was the inadequacies of venting fumes. For example, I had some product to make in
which I had to use phosphorus pentachlofide, a chlorinating agent, and the hoods just wouldn't carry it away at all. So, I'd take these Kjedahl flasks and put the ingredients in there and start walking, and I'd do it at night, so I wouldn't be poisoned. I'd go down the halls shaking it to mix it and go around the square building, and I'd walk to keep ahead of the fumes, and by the time I got all the way around [the buildingl, they were pretty well dissipated. This experience in large-scale laboratory syntheses was invaluable to Volwiler when he started work a t Abbott Laboratories in 1918, after becoming Adams' first student to receive the PhD. Volwiler had made a n outstanding record a s a graduate student, and he and Adams were ;lose personal friends a s well a s professional associates until Adams'death in 1971. W. C. Abbott, a physician in Ravenswood, Illinois, began the operation of a drug store in 1888.He began to produce and market plant extracts a s solutions or pills, calling the enterprise the Abbott Alkaloidal Company (2).His energy in editing a medical journal and organizing a sales force to visit physicians led to rapid growth of his business, and sales were $445,000 by 1909. The name Abbott Laboratories was taken in 1914. A. S . Burdick, a physician who had joined Abbott in 1904, realized that the company needed research to produce medicinals to replace the declining extract business. With the cutting off of German drugs and chemicals in 1914, Abbott faced a serious crisis, like all American chemical enterprises. Roger Adams had become a consultant to Abbott in 1917, a connection that lasted for 50 years, and he recommended Volwiler to Abbott, who hired k m for $1800 a year. Abbott Laboratories had few chemists a t that time, and no research program. The armed services needed barbital (sedative), procaine (local anaesthetic), cincophen (fever Volume 72 Number 1 January 1995
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reducer), and chloramiue-T (in aqueous solution an antiseptic called Dakin's solution). Volwiler prepared these &d other compounds in quantity, working in the plant himself, spending all night watching the reactions when necessary. What help he had was frequently missing due to the influenza epidemic. W. C. Abbott was approached by an acquaintance who h a d a new process for making phenacetin (pethoxyacetanilide). Abbott told Volwiler to try it out, but Volwiler pointed out that it couldn't possibly work, because it started with an ortho-substituted comoound instead of a para. W. C. Abbott was not convinced ;hen Volwiler armed that it was like buildine a brick house out of lumber. kbbott bought the process & w a y and was convinced only after numerous attempts to make phenacetin by this procedure had failed. After the immediate production problems were solved, Volwiler turned to reseakh onlocalkaesthetics, a field in which Adams had been workine at Illinois. E. B. Vliet, an Illinois man hired by ~ o l w i l e cdeveloped a new way of making dibutylamine. Using this compound, Kamm (a faculty member at Illinois), Adams, and Volwiler prepared butyn (3), a local anaesthetic, similar to procaine in structure but superior in some respects. In the hypnotic field Volwiler and an assistant prepared many new barbiturates, from which emerged the clinically valuable nembutal. With D. L. Tabem, a Moses Gomberg PhD from Michigan, he produced the thionembutal, pentothal, which proved to be a very important intravenous anaesthetic, widely used from the 1920's to the present (4). These successes brought Volwiler rapid advancement: he was chief chemist, 1920-1930; director of research, 193& 1933; vice president for research and development, 19331946; executive vice president, 19461950; president and general manager, 195&1958; and chairman of the board, 195S1959. Abbott sales rose from $2,150,000 in 1923, to $11,850,000 in 1939, and to $125,000,000 in 1960. Volwiler's personal research papers numbered about a dozen, and he was a holder of 27 patents; most of these dated from his first decade at Abbott. The research oreanization at Abbott was his creation. He recruited the &entists and olanned the research laboratories. ~articularlva new $500:000 research building and the makacturingi'acilities built in North Chicaeo in the 1930's and enlareed &er World War 11. He obtiined the necessary reseakh funds and equipment and required that they be used efficiently. He watched expenditures carefully. - ~ b b o tchemt ists attended scientific meetinm with notable seriousness and listened to papers conscie&iously. Volwiler said that the research worker (5) ~
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...likes to attend scientific meetings at regular intervals, not only for ideas hut for the changes of pace that such meetings provide. I am not referring to those scientists who go to scientific conclaves as an escape and who fail to obtain the inspiration of ideas and mental catalysis which such interludes should provide. As this quotation implies, Volwiler pondered deeply the problems of motivating scientificworkers to remain enthusiastic and productive. He encouraged workers to publish scientific papers and introduced several ways of giving special recognition to outstanding scientists. He was personally notably generous in giving credit to others and iusisted that D. L. Tabem, then deceased, be listed with him when he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1986 for the discovery of pentothal. Volwiler realized that scientists should be judiciously let alone. As he rose in administrative rank, he-was necessarily not in touch with all details of the reaearch progress in many departments, but as law as 1944, when he was vicepresident for research and development, all of the group of 4
about 10 PhD chemists reported directly to him without any intervening group leaders or section heads (6). Notable products from Abbott research during his 40year tenure included, in addition to the barbiturates and local anaesthetics, an important anti-epileptic compound, and halibut liver oil (for vitamins A and D). Other advances were the processing of human blood plasma and the productiou of penicillin and other antibiotics on a large scale by fermentation in 10,000-gallon kettles. This was a field in which Abbott had had no experience before the discovery of penicillin. The manufacture of sterile solutions for intravenous use developed profits for Abbott, and Abbott oioneered in the nreoaratiou and sale of radioactive compounds for use in medical diagnosis. This was an eutemrise of the indefatieable D. L. Tabern. Volwiler did not originate the ideas for all these and other products himself. However, he read widely in the scientifii and technical literature relating to the pharmaceutical industry, so that he was abreast of all new development. He could alert the more specialized research people to things that they might consider. Reading of Volwiler's speeches and papers after he became a high level administrator reveals his very broad grasp of the technology of the pharmaceutical industry What is more surprising is his recognition of the problems of society in general, buttressed by his extensive historical reading. He discusses the cost of drugs, a t a time (1957) when the average price of a prescription was $2.74 (7). He expresses concern about the educational svstem. ~ a r t i c u laily education in science (5).He notes t h i c o k 4 shortsees in our natural resources (5.8). He sees the problems associated with the unprecedented rate of gawk of world population (7, 8). He suggests the significance of the "increasing percentage of oldsters" in our population (9). He recognizes the extent of malnutrition in what is now called the Third World (8). Volwiler wrote very clearly and impressed his concern for accurate use of words on his subordinates. In Roeer Adams' words,
Journal of Chemical Education
He is unusual among scientists in always being precise in his verbal and written use of English. He never clutters up what he is writing with roundabout phrases when single words will serve, nor does he clutter up necessary phrases with useless wards. As a result, what he has to say is in the simplest, most direct and e x a d manner possible and, hence, he is unusually proficient in communication of ideas.
As an administrator he was efficient and fair, with concern for the effect of his decisions on the people involved. A shrewd businessman, he exercised sound )udgcment on the vossible orofit from new ventures, or the advisabilitv of terminating old unpromising He reduced the number of items in the Abbott catalog from 1000 to about 600, saying that since these 400 drugs were available from a variety of sources, it was not an important or profitable service for Abbott to offer them (9). In 1945, he served on a mission from the Chemical Warfare Service and the Surgeon General to follow the forces i discover what the Germans advancing into ~ e r m a nto had as novel chemical productiou and research projects. His childhood facility in speaking German was of great value to him in this work. In his words,
...with London as my hase, during the next three months, I made three extended forays into Germany. I was the designated leader of each of the three teams, varying in size from four to ten men. Among our findings, theretofore unknown to the Allies. were the nerve -eases.. methadone. the urethanes. new nntimalarinls, and s new prnccss for manufacturing chlorine. As we enromtrred new information, it was immediately sent odt w the Lhited States and England through military
channels. These experiences in Germany stand out as some of the most significant in my professional life. Volwiler took an active part in professional organizations. He chaired the Chicago section of ACS (1924-1925), and was president of ACS (19501 and chairman of the board of directors (1954-1956). Among his many other activities, he was president of the American Drug Manufacturers Association (195619581; chairman of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Technology,National Research Council (1958-1960); member of the National Science Foundation Board (1958-1964); trustee, Lake Forest Collew (1950): member of the Universitv of Illinois Foundatiin (195211957); and member of the Board of Regents, National Librarv of Medicine (1957-1960). These and many other activkies added to his knowledge and were a source of prestige to Abbott Laboratories. His major role in Abbott's success was recognized, and his work in many public service activities, only a few of which we have mentioned, made him a leader in the American pharmaceutical industry. Tbree firms tried to hire him as president &er 1945, hut he was happy a t Abbott and had no wish to leave. Volwiler naturally received many awards and honors. Among them were the Priestley Medal of ACS (19581, the Modern Pioneers Award (1940), the Sesquicentennial Medal of Miami University (1959)and honorary doctorates from Miami (19461, Illinois (1959) and Northwestern (1949). He was a loyal alumnus of Miami and Illinois. Volwiler was a devoted family man. He had two daughters and a son, and his marriage to Lillian Huggler lasted over 60 years until her death. He is remembered by a daughter as thoughtful, patient, and kind, a loving husband and father, scrupulously honest, and a gentleman in every respect (10).
His principal hobbies were travel. ~hotorrrarihv, - * golf and commemorakve medals and stamp&he also read widely in histom. After his retirement from Abbott, he and his wife travekd very extensively; he had visited 78 countries in all. He continued many of his public service activities, including his membership on thk board of trustees of Lake Forest College (chairman, 1962-1966), and he served for a dozen years on the board of the Washington-based Council for Basic Education. He followed closely our preparation of a biography of Roger Adams, reading each dr& carefully and giving critical and searching comments which added materially to the value of the book. His memory was excellent, although he was in the late 80's at the time. The Adams book mav have motivated him to write his autobiography, a partiEular~y valuable and interesting account of his earlv life. Distinguished in science, administration, and public service, as well as in personality and character, Volwiler was a key figure in the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and an outstanding man of his time.
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Literature Cited 1. Tart+ D. S.; Tarbell Ann T. R o w Adoma Seimtiat ond Stateamon; American Chemical Soe.: Washington, 1981; pp 5266; alao our book on Amerieao or&=
New Yo*,
3. Wet, E. B.J
196s.
Am. C h . Sae. 1%24,46,1305: Kamm, 0.: A d m . R.: Volwiler. E. H. U.S. Patent 1,368,751; Chem.Absfr 1~1,15,4U.Adams,R.;Val&r,E.H.U.S. Patmt 1,676A7O:C k m . Abatz 19111.22.3265, 4. Valwiler, E. H.J. Chemothrmpy 1831, 8, 1:Tabem, D. L.: Vbelanlanlanl, E. R. J. A m Chem Soe 1M,67.1961. 5. Volwiler, E. H. "Same Problems of Diecove@, address befme Ule Indvstrid Re-
Volume 72 Number 1 January 1995
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