INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
December, 1923
1283
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES John Maxson Stillman
longer dictator, he became the loyal and zealous agent of his superiors in power. He accorded to those in authority over him that same respect and allegiance which he expected and BHN MAXSON STILLMAN was the first executive head of the Chemistry Department of Leland Stanford Junior Univer- knew so well how to win from those under him. But by no sit& Here he foundan atmosphere so congenial, a field of work so means did he ever become the mere henchman. In council he would present his views with all the full of possibilities, and a burden of responforce he could muster, and he often won sibilities so great that it would have been his point through better information as to dificult for him to have migrated elsewhere, the details of a situation, together with even had he so desired. At any rate, here an unusually keen ability to visualize and he has stayed, and here he has labored and express clearly the possible and probable rested and labored wain, until today finds results of a mooted policy. But the decision him an emeritus of six years’ standing, still once taken, whether for or against him, laboring and resting and laboring again. became in his eyes inviolable law, and if, To the casual acquaintance of the street, in the course of the years, there have been. the club, the social circle, he is always the any who have conceived for him anything embodiment of gentlemanly grace and affaakin to dislike or enmity, it is fairly safe bility; genuinely cultured and quick of wit; to attribute it to their having crashed the ideal toastmaster who can preside with against his stone-wall defense of the authora light arid airy dignity and never say “that reminds me of a story,” and who can keep ity of his superiors. the revelem in merriment without recourse As a teacher, Stillman was always a clear and convincing lecturer, and he courted to the slightest suggestion of coarseness. Socially he is an artist of high rank. intimate discussions with his pupils. That His services to Stanford University have these, almost without exception, came to admire and revere him, is shown clearly been of fundamental importance. As the enough by the ease with which a substantial guiding hand in the upbuilding of the sum was raised among them to establish the chemistry department, his work was so Stillman Fellowship Fund as a testimonial a t well done that, since his retirement, little the time of his retirement, has been necessary except to follow along the lines of general policy which were As an investigator he has numerous titles J O H N MAXSONSTILLMAN established under his regime. Within the to his credit, but, the burdens of administradepartment he maintained himself in the tion coming on him so comparatively early fortunate position of one possessed of almost absolute power, in life, he was forced pretty nearly to renounce research “in but wise enough to wield it as little as possible. His willing- order t o make it possible for others to do the work.” However, the creative chemist in him had to ; h i v e somehow,and he turned ness to h t e n most patiently to opponents, and to discuss with perfect calmness and fairness all the intricacies of a difficult his attention to the historical aspects of his science, and numersituation, toggther with his firm insistence on the right of the ous essays in this field have appeared from his pen. Since retirejunior members of the staff to teach as they thought best, were ment his activities in this direction have increased, and a “Life always potent factors in keeping the waters smooth. Yet every of Paracelsus” has already appeared, and “The Story of Early one knew that the power was there and that if the occafion Che‘mistry,” conceived on unique lines, is in the hands of the should arise the sword would be drawn. printer. In the broader field of general university administration And so an unusually sensitive nature, buoyed up by a high Stillman has also done yeoman’s work, He has served for regard for spiritual values, has traveled through the vicissitudes considerable and often very delicate and difficult periods as of life to the golden harvest time. It has already been a long, vice president and as close councilor to both president and and useful life, and, happily, time still goes on. trustees. Here his administrative talent showed itself in a way w. YOUNG quite other than that of the head professor of chemistry. No
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Calendar of Meetings American Institute of Chemical Engineers-Winter Washington, D. C., December 5 to 8, 1923. American Petroleum Institute-4th Mo., December 11 to 13, 1923.
Meeting,
Annual Meeting, St. Louis,
American Association for the Advancement of Science-75th Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 27, 1923, to January 2, 1924. Federated American Engineering Societies-Annual Washington, D. C., January 10 and 11, 1924.
Meeting,
Franklin Institute-Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pa., January 16, 1924. American Society of Heating and Ventilating EngineersAnnual Meeting, New York, N. Y., January 22 to 25, 1924. American Ceramic Society-Atlantic City, N. J., February 4 to 9, 1924. American Chemical Society-67th Meeting, Washington, D. C., April 21 to 25,1924. American Electrochemical Society-Spring Meeting, Philadelphia, Pa., April 24 to 26, 1924.
