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Linus Pauling Awarded Gibbs Medal
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A STAFF REPORT
/£- Mayer 9 who reviewed the achieve of the medalist, and JMaria Mayer
X HE Willard Gibbs Medal, one of the highest of chemical honors, was awarded to Linus Pauling, head of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and director of the Gates and Crellin Labora tory of the California Institute of Tech nology, by the Chicago Section of the
distances, bond angles and covalent radii of atoms; for quantitation of the classical theory of electronegativity; for extension and application of the resonance principle to chemistry; and for the formulation of a framework theory of antibodv formation. WE HONOR . . . . LINUS "PALLING Professor Pauling received the B.Se. degree from Oregon State College and in 1925 was awarded the Ph.D. by the Cali fornia Institute of Technology. He then became a national research fellow for one year and was Guggenheim Fellow in Europe in 1926-27, after which he returned to the California Institute staff where he became professor of theoretical chemistry in 1931. In that year he was awarded the
AMERICAN- CHEMICAL SOCIETY, June 14.
The medal was presented by W. A. Xoyes, Jr., president-elect of the AMERI CAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at a dinner held
in Chicago for the occasion. Joseph E. Mayer, University of Chicago, spoke on "Linus Pauling and His Scientific Achieve ments", and -VI. H . Arveson, chairman of the Chicago Section, addressed the meet ing on "The Wiilard Gibbs Medal". This award, to ' c anyone who, because of his eminent work and original contribu tions to pure and applied chemistry, is deemed worthy of special recognition", is named after Josiah Willard Gibbs, famous American physical chemist. I t was origi nated in 1911 by William A. Converse, chairman of the* Chicago Section in 1910, to whom the section is this year presenting copies of the a-ddresses delivered and other mementoes of the meeting. Mr. Arveson discussed the founding and naming of the medal, the jury system used in selecting the recipient, the eminence of the past medadists, and the significance of the award to those privileged t o be pres ent. He pointed out that the jury is com posed of twelve eminent chemists and chemical engineers widely distributed geo graphically throughout t h e United States, with not more than two from any one
A. C. Langmuir Prize of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. I n 1937 he was ele
vated to his present position. He was George Fisher Baker lecturer at Cornell in 1937-38, and received the William H . Nichols medal of the New York Section of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY in 1941.
He has been elected to be the Eastman professor from the United States to the University of Oxford for 1947-48. Dr. Mayer said that Pauling "is a rarity among scientists, a chemist with mathe-
matical and geometrical intuition", that he "has that chemical sense, the respect for, and knowledge of chemical fact, which differentiates the true chemist from the physicist". In discussing Pauling's achievements, Dr. Mayer referred to his more than 150 articles and books, includ ing important works on resonance, the nature of the chemical bond and its geo metrical aspects, and interpretations of quantum mechanical reasoning which were milestones in its popularization for chem ists. Also praised were his accomplish ments through experimental work, as in the field of the geometr}'. "Few scientists", said Dr. Mayer, "have ever been able to claim such successful parenthood of both the experimental and theoretical bases for so wide a field." The medalist's interests in biochemistry and immunology were pointed out as other fields into which he had carried his interest in and understanding of geometric rela tionships with significant success. In addition to research achievements, Dr. Pauling's success as a teacher was paid tribute. Dr. Mayer said t h a t there are "few scientists who, at his age, can claim so man ν intellectual children of note".
Right. Linus Paul ing a nd A Ifred Noyes, Jr., president-elect of the ACS
Section of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL S O
CIETY. I n considering past medalists, he said he was impressed by the fact that substantially all had continued to make important contributions after receiving the award. The Medalist: Programs foT the meeting carried this tribute :
Left. Mrs. M. / / . Arveson ivith two former Gibbs Medal recipients, W. O. Harkins and Roger Adams
. . . for eminent work and original con tributions in chemistry and related scien tific fields, through the determination of many molecular structures, inter-atomic V O L U M E
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