David H. Wilcox, Jr. Tennessee Eastman Co. Kingsport, Tennessee
The American Chemical Society Prize Essay contests, 1923-31
The House Appropriations Committee has approved $2.50 million for the National Science Foundation during the fiscal year of 1962.' This is far removed from the more than $500 thousand spent over eight years for the private support of the American Chemical Society Prize Essay Contests for my generatio11.~ Not estimated is the amount of free time contributed by uneount,ed individual chemistry teachers and ot,hers. Lest it be assumed that the contests mere of minor interest, let it be known there were four million participant^.^ Each participant acquired a better understanding of chemistry, and in the process must, have aroused the interest of parents and friends. In the light of the present day Government push to interest and train more scientists, it is timely to review the Garvan-sponsored contests
Francis P. Gorvan (phologroph, courtesy of the Chemists' Club Library).
Francis Patrick Garvan, a New York lawyer, was Assistant District Attorney of New York City, for 10 years, t,hen left private practice in 1917 to head the Bureau of Investigatio~~ and the A-ew York office of the Alien Property Cnstodian. In March, 1919, he sncceeded Judge A. Mitchell Palmer as Alien Property Custodian. He also was Prcsident of the Chemical Foundation from its organization until his death on Novembw 7, 1939. These activities all tied in together, for while in charge of the New York office of the Alien Property Custodian, he investigated the German companies, t,heir varied activities in the U. S., and their
repressive influence on our small chemical industry. The Alien Property Custodian nntil 1919, ,Judge Palmer, had been authorized to confiscate and sell enemy plants, real estate, securities, patents, trademarks, and so fort,h. Both Mr. Palmer and Mr. Garvan felt the need for an organization to promote the growth and welfare of the struggling chemical industry. Hence, in February, 1919, they met with t,he leaders of the chemical industry a t the India House in New York City to formulate the Chemical Foundation. This neutral non-profit corporation was then created by execut,ive order of President Woodrow Wilson. The Government sold all the German patents to the Chemical Foundat.ion which was empowered to license their use non-exclnsively upon equal terms and upon a royalty basis to any honafide individual or corporation. The President, Vice-president, and Directors served without pay. Latcr the Chemical Foundation made a valuable contribution to the Essay contest,^ by paying the administrative expenses; the Foundation also contributed a set of scientific books to each secondary school and public library in the C o ~ n t r y . ~ Before World War I thc American chemical industry was inadequate. On December 31, 1916, the members of the American Chemical Society numbered 8355; a large percentage of these members were undoubtedly teachers in our schools and colleges. The industry was made up principally of inorganic or heavy chemical product,ion, and the organic chemical production was mostly to finish materials from imported intermediates. This situation existed because the major chemical companies were German owned or controlled. Upon the United Stat8es1entrance in the war, new chemical companies sprang up everywhere, and the old ones expanded their lines. However attrit,ion was great, principally bccausc of the lack of industrial know-how Many plants limped along with Government backing during the war, but quickly folded or were absorbed by the more fort.unate companies in the fierce compet,ition which followed the armistice. Indicative of the timcs, the avcragc price per pound of all dyestuffs was $1.08 in 1920, but only 47b in 1925. It has been said that during the World War I there were more t,han 28 chemical companies along the tracks of the New Jersey Central Railroad between Jersey City and Bound Brook, a distance of 35 miles. Today, Calco Chemical Company is the only one left, and it is a division of the American Cyanamid Company. By December 31, 1923, the ACS membership had grown to 14,346. Mr. Garvan, by now a veteran in the
' Chcm. and a
Eng. 2Vews,39, 23 (1961). J . CHEM.EDUC.,8, 1655 (1931). J. CHEM.E;I>UC., 8, 2037 (1031).
HAYNES,WILLIAMS,"American Chemical Industry," Van Nostrand, New York, 1948, Vol. 4, and 1949, Vol. 6.
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fight to protect and expand our American chemical industry, must have concluded supportand development for the industry would come if the public had a better understanding of the part played by chemistry in our evervdav - - lives. The idea crvstallized that he and his wife financially support a nationwide chemistry essay contest for young people as a memorial to their daughter Patricia, whom they had lost during the post-war years. In this manner, interest generated by the youngsters in preparing their essays would not only be of permanent benefit to them, but would spill over to their parents and friends. The Council of the ACS through the President, Edward C. Franklin of Stanford University, accepted the gift and appointed a committee to organize and carry forward the work. In this manner was the American Chemical Society Prize Essay Contest born. One summer afternoon in 1923 this author was glancing through the pages of the New York Times and saw the announcement of the ACS Prize Essay Contest; he wrote immediately to ask for the details, and received a 16-page booklet in plenty of time to write the essay. This boy had been suitably conditioned by a general science course under his teacher-chemist, Arthur Purefoy Sledd. Undoubtedly, parallel situations developed all over the Country for i t quickly stirred the imaginations of many teen-age students. ACS President Franklin was fortunate in his choice of committee appointments because they carried out their assignments to organize and direct the contest promptly and conscientiously. The committee was composed of Harrison E. Howe, Chairman; Wilder D. Bancroft; Charles H. Herty; and Alexander Williams, Jr., Secretary. Mr. Howe was the Editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Dr. Bancroft was Professor of Physical Chemistry, Cornell University. Dr. Herty was President of the Synthetic Organic Chemicals Manufacturer's Association, but in 1926 resigned to become executive assistant to Mr. Garvan at the Chemical Foundation. Mr. Williams was from the Chemical Foundation. The first pamphlet (1923-24) contained the letters of offer, acceptance, and some mechanism by Mr. Garvan, Dr. Franklin, and John J. Tigret, Commissioner of Education, Department of the Interior. There followed the announcement that "the ACS will award six prizes of $20 in gold and certificates of honorable mention in cach state of the United States and in the District of Columbia, for the best essays on each of the following subjects submitted during the school year 1923-24. The Relation of Chemistry to Health and Disease. The Relation of Chemistry to the Enrichment of Life. The Relation of Chemistry to Agriculture and Forestry. The Relation of Chemistry to National Defense. The Relation of Chemistry to the Home. The Relstion of Chemistry to the Development of the Industries and Resources of Your State. Any student enrolled in any secondary or high school, public or private, is eligible for this competition. From among the winners of State prizes s. National Committee will select the best essay in each of the six classes. The writers will be awarded four year scholarships at Yale University or Vassar College, pursuant to the wishes of the donors of the prizes. Contestants &readvised to consult freely with science and other teachers for advice as to sources of informa.tion. It in not the intention of those in charge of the contest to induce participants
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to technical essays. No knowledge of chemistry is required of entrants in the contest, the object and purpose being to instill a live interest in the subject.
The contest rules were: 1. Contestants may submit only one essay. 2. Essays, not to exceed 2500 words, must be confined to one of the six topics given above. 3. Essays must he legibly written in ink or preferably typewritten. They should be double spaced, have wide margins and he on only one side of the paper which should measure not less than 8'/1" X 11". Each sheet should bear the name and address of the contestant. The sheets should be numbered consecutively and securely fastened together. 4. Essays must he in the hands of the designated authorities in the state before April 1, 1924. Winners will be announced not later than July 1, 1924 (actually the winners in North Carolina. were announced early in May, 1924).
Following this was the list of five reference books which the Chemical Foundation had selected and had assembled: "Creative Chemistry," Edwin E. Slosseu; "Life of Pasteur," R. Vallery-Radot; "Riddle of the Rhine," Victor Befebure; "Discovery, The Spirit and Service of Science," Richard Gregory; and "The Future Independence and Progress of American Medicine in the Age of Chemistry," by a Committee of the American Chemical Society. Two of the ahove hooks, "The Future Independence and Progress of American Medicine in the Age of Chemistry," 1921, and "Riddle of the Rhine," 1923, had been published by the Chemical Foundation. This set of hooks was distributed to all accredited secondary schools and libraries all over the country free of charge by the Chemical Foundation. In the first contest pamphlet a sticker had been placed stating that the books could be obtained by interested individuals upon receipt of $2.50-the actual cost of printing. The Chemical Foundation was very active in promoting the American chemical industry, particularly through the distribution of pertinent literature. Williams Haynes states that 174 different pieces of literature were distributed. While only a few hundred copies of some were mailed, others amounted to hundreds of thousands. The range ran from "In the Matter of a Proposed Reciprocal Trade Treaty between the United States and Switzerland, Brief, Submitted on behalf of Chemistry in the United States by Francis P. Garvan" (1935) to the two volume "Chemistry in Industry" edited by Harrison E. Howe, a cooperative work intended to give examples of the contributions made to industry by chemistry. There were 43 contributors and subjects; and the volumes were published in 1924 and 1926 respectively. The author received a copy of ''Chemistry in Industry," containing an insert note signed by Mr. Garvan, as part of the honorable mention prize in 1926. Besides the five titles above, attention was called in this booklet to a list of 15 other books for reading and reference; this reference list grew from year to year so that by 1926 i t contained 63 recommendations. The remainder of the first booklet contained excerpts from "Treasure Hunting of Today" by Robert E. Rose, director of the Technical Laboratory at DuPont. The results of the contest for the first year were so gratifying to the Garvans and to those within the ACS that it was repeated the next school year and for a total of eight contests. The first contest was reported in
"Something Done and an Opportunity," by the Chairman Howe and the contest committee, published in the new JOURNAL of CHEMICALEDUCATION.^ A questionnaire that had been sent to all of the accredited secondary schools in the country showed that more than 500,000 boys and girls were actively engaged in the preparation of papers for the competition, and that the books distributed through the Committee and the Chemical Foundation reached probably three times that many students and others who became interested. Committees had been set up in each state to whom the papers would be submitted directly; they were to select from the entries the six best on each subject. The great number of papers submitted were too many for the committees, and a call for volunteers was sent to a11 of the local ACS sections and to chemistry teachers. They all responded quickly and helpfully with the result that auxiliary state committees were formed which had the more or less thankless task of separating the best from among the essays submitted. I n this manner, only those worthy of attention mere brought before the committee of judges who were then aided in their work by the knowledge that the essays had been examined for accuracy of statement and of fact before they were asked to judge them. The six best essays in each of the states were forwarded to the Committee on Prize Essays and were placed in the hands of a special committee composed of members of the ACS Division of Chemical Education. This committee eliminated all but the 18 which were considered best; these were turned over to the National Committee who selected the six winners in the national contest. The National Awards Committee was listed in the booklet for the second contest, and was composed of the following distinguished Americans: Herbert Hoover, Chairman, Wallace Buttrick, Charles H. Mayo, H. N. MacCracken, Frederick P. Fish, Matthew Woll, Arthur Capper, Mrs. John D. Sherman, Earnest Flagg, Robert J. Cuddihy, Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser, Ida M. Tarbell, Lawrence F. Abbott, Richard H. Edmonds, J. C. Merriarn, Julius Rosenwald, James W. Wadsworth, Jr., Mrs. Thomas G. Winter, William D. Haggard, Lee K. Frankel, Merle Thorpe, John J. Carty, George Eastman, J. R. Angell, Robert Andrews Millikan, Louis Betts, Leo H. Baekeland, Albert B. Dinwiddie, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Emma P. Carr, and Mrs. Anthony Wayne Cook. Unfortunately, only one of the first six national winners could be located 36 years later. This was Elton R. Allison, a graduate with the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees, originally of Centralia, and now of Walla Walla, Washington. His subject has been "The Relation of Chemistry to National Defense." It is ironic that years later he was subjected to two loyaltysecurity hearings all because he had taken a job in 1934 to work as chemist in the USSR. He returned to the United States in 1936. While still a member of the ACS, he is not now working as a chemist but for the U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Engineering Division, Budget Administration. He seems a bit bitter about the unjustified harassment, but blames it on "trend of the times."
The success of the first essay contest assured the second; it was enlarged to include a contest for undergraduate university and college students. The rules for the collegians were about, the same except that the essays could extend to 5000 words, the papers would be sent directly to the Secretary of the Committee on Prize Essays of the ACS, and the prize was $1000 for the winners of each of the six designated subjects. The secondary school competition was enlarged to include essays written by students from all of the extraterritorial possessions, these essays being judged by a special committee as in the state contests. The essay contests had so caught the interest of the colleges and universities that by 1924, 15 were offering scholarship awards to interested winners of the state contests. After the first year, the article by Dr. Rose was dropped from the contest announcement booklets to make way for a list of all the winners of the previous year. These lists of names helped make possible this article. As with the winners of the first national coutest the winners of the first college contest have dropped out of contact except tor Gilbert H. Ayres, now Professor of analytical chemistry at the University of Texas. His first essay was titled "The Relation of Chemistry to the Rubber Industry." He wrote that the college committee added a further hurdle, hut let him tell it:
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.. . I entered the contest, in the school year 1924-25 . . I was, in fact, a senior at Taylor University, Uphnd, Indiana, in the year in whioh I was a winner. There were six general subject areas in the college contest, the same as in the high school contest. In the college series, the three best essays in each subject area were selected in a preliminary judging. The author of each of these 18 essays was then required to write a second essay, under supenision and without prior knowledge of the subject to be assigned. The subject assigned in my case (and the subject was so general that I presume it was assigned also to other preliminary winners) was "An Outstanding Contribution of Chemistry to Human Welfare." I ohose to write on "1Medicine: An Outstanding Contribution.. . ." The final winners (one in each of the original six categorieb) were chosen, I believe, on the basis of both the first and second essay submitted. I was one of the national winners; the prize was $1000. The contest for the third year (1925-26) had the same rules and coverage as the previous one. There were some changes in the coverage of the fourth contest (1926-27) as it was felt that greater interest would result from limiting the college contest to members of the freshman class. Many of the freshmen had participated in the secondary school contests, and would be acquainted with its advantages. The Garvans, recognizing the vital part played by good teaching to our progress, instituted a contest for students a t our Normal Schools and Teachers Colleges. The length of the essays for the college freshman and the Normal and Teachers College contests was to be 2500 words. There were to be six prizes of $500, six prizes of $300, and six prizes of $200 awarded to the students attending Normal Schools and Teachers Colleges of the United States. In the 1928-29 contest the rules for the college and university freshmen were changed to give three prizes of $500, $300, and $200 respectively in each class, rather than a single prize of $1000 as formerly. I n the eighth and h a 1 contest 30 topics were given for use in the university and college freshman contest. Volume 39, Number 2, February 1962
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This survey was confined to the winners of the first three contests (since their names were the only ones available to the author): this included 1776 first prize and honorable mention winners; of these, 1004 were boys. 1726 individual boys and girls participated in the first three years: 6.5 won prizes in their state contests for two years, and one boy won in each of the first thrce years. Also, one boy won first prize in his state secondary school contest two years, and then won in the college freshman contest. To determine present status of those winners, a questionnaire was prepared and sent to all for whom a recent or old street address could be found. Since it must have been the cherished hope of those who helped with the contests that some of the winners would make chemistry their life work, the obvious place to check the names would be in the directories of the American Chemical Society. Copies of the 1935 and 1947 directories were a t hand, and each of the 1726 names was compared with those given in the directories. By this means most of the trial addresses were obtained. If there were any winners who make a living in chemistry and yet were not or are not ACS members, their place remains in obscurity. There were great numbers who by their participation in the cont,ests indicated their teenage interest, but for a variety of reasons did not choose to become chemists; these we wanted to find to determine if their interest had been lasting and of value. Several methods were used here; the best was actually to have known other winners and their present whereabouts. For example, the author was in the same high school wit,h Joseph Lee Carlton and Carolyn Nash (Mrs. Loyd B. Hathaway), now an attorney a t law and a housewife respectively. Some of the ones receiving the questionnaire sent in names and present addresses of others: Roger Altpeter, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin sent the name of his Barahoo, Wisconsin schoolmate, Josephine Bevelyn Bassett (Mrs. Glenn Kuettel). After seven years as a research librarian, she gave up her job to raise a family in Bloomfield, New Jersey. The contest sponsors probably never dreamed that they might he making marriage contacts as in the case of Richard S. Wilder, Plant Technical Section Supervisor, Organic Chemicals Department, Dul'ont, whose wife was the former Charlotte Squires, another contest winner. They each checked the questionnaire. A total of 158 questionnaires were mailed out; 26 went to the wrong people, and 21 were returned undelivered, leaving 111 that possibly reached the right persons. A total of 70 replies (63%) were received. It was a hearbwarming and informative experience to read the returned questionnaires and the many notes that accompanied them. It is regrettable that those who worked so hard for those early contests did not live to reap this reward. Understandably, the same qualities that urged the secondary pupils to write an essay in the first place continued to exert their influence to form grown-up individualists. A great range of data was returned on the questionnaires including some which could be counted up under simple headings. The following percentages are based on the number of questionnaires returned. At the start it was desirable to learn if the contests 80
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had actually sparked a life-long interest in chemistry, or whether the essayist had been a "hug" on the subject even before learning of the contests. Here is the way the contestants answered: Increased appreciation of chemistry, 46%; They were "chemistry bugs" before contest, 36%; Both above factors were involved, 16%. Sidney Henry Babcock, Jr., for one, found the road to decision not quite so simple for he wrote: The odd thing to me about i t all was that, while I actually won the first prize for Oklahoma. with a paper entitled "The Relation of Chemistry to Medicine," and I am now a Ph.D. chemist in charge, among other things, of the manufacture of antibiotics and phssmaeeutieals for Cyanamid International Division of American Cyanamid Company, the route from winning the prize to the present position was certainly circuitous. As a matter of fact, a t the time of writing the essay, I had made up my mind to be a philosopher. This was sort of compromise with the genetic requirements to become a minister (my ancestors as far hark as I know were all ministers) and with my inability to imagine myself as one. I went offto college, to Vanderbilt, with the full intention of majoring in philosophy. Unfortunately, Logic I was crowded out of my freshman curriculum by the college requirement that the freshman had t o take one year of laboratory science. The only science lab large enough t o accommodate those of US not intending to major in science was chemistry. So I signed up for the blind alley chemical course given to all of us would-be philosophers. I t happens that my father had gone to Vmderbilt and had lived in the dormitory of the School of Religion. M y father was unwilling to have his son stay in the ordinary freshman dormitory, where all kinds of wild and wicked things happen, and so I stayed in the dormitory of the School of Religion. It happened that there were several extra rooms in those days, and, across the hall from me rrms my freshman chemistry instructor. He undertook to broaden my education beyond the field of chemistry and the narrow confines of a minister's home, and then talked me into switching over from the blind alley course to the one for chemistry majors-and hore I am. So I guess, in summary, one could say that my winning the prize was a sign of, rather than a cause of, my becoming a chemist.
Here is a lucid explanation as to why so many of us "preacher's kids" become chemists. A further example of the influence of adjacent helpful and inspiring teachers comes in the tribute by Henry D. Addison, Chief Chemist, Pro-phy-lac-tic Brush Company, who relates: At the time I wrote my essay 1was a student a t Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. I t was a t the urging of Professor Wilhelm Segerblom that I undertook to write the essay. He was the man who inspired me to major in Chemistry and I believe that the Prize Essay Contest helped to confirm my decision.
All the contestants who replied went to college; a breakdown of the highest degree obtained follows: no degree, 4%; bachelor's, 30%; master's, 21%; doctorate, 45%. Two of the men took law degrees, and became attorneys for chemical companies. They were Maurice Lew. " , Trade Counsel for Hoffmann-La Rmhe Inc.. and Frank William Rose, Jr., patent attorney for International Latex Corporation. Walter Gerard Hensel, Ph.D., doesn't mention any legal training, but he is Assistant Patent and Trade Mark Counsel for General Aniline and Film Corporation. Several crossed over into the engineering field and took degrees in chemical engineering as well as in straight chemistry, including Thomas Gastonguay, Chairman, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Mexico; Noel Stilwell Chamherlin, Senior Engineer, Plant Design and Construction Division, Western Electric
Co.; and Edward W. Comings, Dean of Engineering, University of Delaware, whose education had an unusual twist a t the start: I enrolled in pre-law a t the University of Illinois and tramferred to chemical engineering after one semester. I always felt the essay contest had as much influence on me in making this decision as any other factor.
Harry Litwin, President, Litwin Engineering Co., wrote: I had not partioularly considered chemistry or ohemical engineering as my future field while in high school. I enrolled in chemistry by pure chance, having an empty hour. The winning of the essay contest greatly increased my interest, so that it should be given a good deal of credit towards my decision to enter that field.
Others were Donald B. Pmess, Superintendent of Manufacturing, Cities Service Oil Co.; Richard S. Wobus, Director, Petroleum Chemicals, Monsanto Chemical Co.; Felix L. Yerzley, a consultant with his own company. And there is John G. Lewis, Assistant Director, Engineering Science Division, American Metal Products, who is not sure as to what contest he won, but writes like a fine fellow and belongs to Alpha Chi Sigma so he is happily included. Two with engineering degrees, Carl Wayne Scharf and Scott E. Wood, both later switched back for the former is Associate Professor of Chemistry, Arlington State College, Texas, and the latter is Professor of Chemistry, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. But there also is H. Howard Bennett who took a degree in chemistry and wound up a Corrosion Engineer, Mobil Oil Company.
It is surprising that this group of contestants who finished school during the so-called "great depression" were for the most part able to find jobs either in educ* tion or in the chemical industry. Possibly the ones able to obtain chemical jobs have continued in the field, while others who tried and failed gave up and took positions in other fields. Naturally, there were some persistent folks like Roy Anderson, Research Engineer, Dow Chemical Co., who reported that it took him seven years to get into the chemical industry. Also, George Crump, of Pine Bluff (Arkansas) High School, who won a Garvan Scholarship award in the 1925-26 contest, wrote: I had trouble getting started in the field due to the depression, but I started in f a b and oils in 1935 and have been in this field, in all phases, since. I have no regrets; if I had it to do again, I would do the same.
He is now Technical Director, Margarine Manufacturing Division, Standard Brands, Inc. Then David Glick looked for a job and found none, but was offered a po~t~doctoral fellowship, and is now Professor, Department of Pathology and Head of the Division of Histochemistry a t Stanford University Medical School, Palo Alto, California. Finally, there was Charles David Karlsnther, originally from Tucumcari, New Mexico; undaunted a t finding chemical doors closed on him, he worked up to the position of Consultant in Industrial Marketing, Public Relations and Advertising. He states that "I number several chemical companies and those supplying equipment to the processing industry as clients." Those who answered the questionnaire are occupied
in many endeavors, but they roughly fall into the following groups: industry, 62%; schools, 20%; independent, 8%; home, 7%; and government, 3%. Some who entered industry are L. Earle Arnow, President, Warner-Lambert Research Institute; Ransome E. Ashmore (formerly of Artesian, South Dakota), Area Superintendent, DuPont Co., Louisville, Kentucky; Alfred Clark, Senior Scientist, Phillips Petroleum Co.; Oscar D. Englehart, Manager of General Development, Glass Research Center, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.; Walter M. Fenton, in charge of Sales and Market Development, Quebec Lithium Corp., Joe L. Franklin, Jr., Research Associate, Humble Oil and Refining Co., writes: I was indeed a winner from Texas in 1924, the year I graduated from high school. I am pleased to acknowledge that winning one of the prizes in the Garwn contest had a very definite effect on my eitreer. The fact of winning suggested to me that I might be suited to a. career in chemistry and so when I entered the University of Texas I enrolled in Chemical Engineering. I completed my bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemical Engineering and took a. doctorate in Physical Chemistry. After receiving the Ph.D. degree, I joined the research laboratories of Humhle Oil and Refining Company where I have been ever since. B e cause the Garvan prize largely determined the direction of my career, I have always felt indebted to the Garvam.
Arthur H. Hale, Assistai~tto the Director of Laboratories, Research and Development Division, DuPont Co., wrote that "winning the prize on this subject (Enrichment of Life) for the state of Arkansas gave me a sense of achievement and accomplishment which meant a lot to me at that time." Others in industry include Allen Hensley, Director of Research, Mississippi Lime Co.; Frank C. Hildebrand, Vice-president, Staff Departments, General Mills Inc.; George E. Hulse, Director, Research and Development Department, Chemical Products Division, Chemetron Corp.; Don DeLance Irish, Director of Biochemical Research Laboratory, The Dow Chemical Co.; Herman J. Jordan, Technical Sales, Elastomer Chemicals Department, DuPont Co., Los Angeles; Herman Kerst, Jr., Senior Research Leader, Dearborn Chemical Co.; Roy Kirk, Chief, Chemical Section, Metallurgical Lab., Dow Chemical Co.; Joseph B. hmbardo, Chemist, American Cyanamid Co., Bound Brook, New Jersey; Lawrence A. O'Leary, from Barnesville, Minnesota, at W. P. Fuller and Co., South San Francisco; and Donald A. Porter, Administration, Delhi-Taylor Oil Corp. Hamilton Wallace Putnam, Technical Manager, New Products Development, Refrigerated Foods Division, The Pillsbury Co., New Albany, Indiana, wrote interestingly, and is quoted: As a matter of record, I gmdusted from high school in 1923 with a strong interest in physics and electrical engineering because of a high school physics teacher. When I attempted to enter college that fall, however, I was short on science and m a t h e matics (long on shop courses), and needed s. few mare hours. These were taken while I held down a job and earned a little toward future college expenses. I fell under the influence of a very fine chemistry instructor a t East Denver High School. I was encouraged to enter the Garvan Essay Contest. That Winter, beesuse of a. work schedule change, I entered evening high school for my second semester in chemistry. I had the privilege of association with another dynamic teacher who convinced me that chemistry held challenges beyond my dreams for something worlh doing. He &o made it possible for me to work Volume 39, Number 2, February 1962
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as his laborato~yassistant at an attractive wage of $15 per month that more than paid car fare.
More men who entered industry are Charles A. Rehbein, Operations Research, Shell Oil Co., New York; Norman E. Searle, Research Scientist, DuPont Co., Wilmington, Delaware; Horace H. Selby (from Sheridan, Wyoming) now Chief Chemist and General Manager, American Agar and Chemical Co., San Diego; and C. Monroe Shigley, Director of Technical Research, The Dow Chemical Co., Freeport, Texas. Alfred H. Taylor, Assistant Director of Chemical Research, Air Reduction Co., Murray Hill, New Jersey writes: ks a high school boy I was scientifically inclined without decision as to field and without any means to get to college when someone called my attention to the Garvan contests which offered a chance a t a college scholarship. Such was the reason for my great effort. I got through one year at the University of New Hampshire on a financial shoestring, taking chemistry for the want of a more l k n decision. But the second year when I had to stay out and work for more money, I fortunately got a job with the Kay Chemical Company where I worked on pilot plant operations. That job fascinated me and cinched my decision; I have been a chemist ever since.
Clifford J. B. Thor, originally from Clarissa, Minnesota, now Manager, Technical Services, Visking Co., Division of Union Carbide Corporation, wrote of auother facet: Preparing the essay and winning one of the state prizes definitely gave me a lift and sharpened my interest in a chemicd career. Reading Slosson's "Creative Chemistry" along with the other books in the set was a big factor.
Leonard G. Wise, Supervisor of Intelligence Division, Central Research Department, DuPont Co., added a word of caution: Winning the Ohio contest greatly stimulated my interest in considering chemistry as a profession. I t should be recalled, however, that the contest tested writing ability more than it did scientific aptitudes.
Those in industry also includeGarrel1 Deem, St. Louis, Missouri; Hugh R. Tobey, Rubber Chemist, Castle Rubber Co., Butler, Pennsylvania; Ralph Uhrmacher, President and Research Director, Research and Development Associates, Fort Worth, Texas; and Howard J. Wood, Technical Sales, Pigments Department, DuPont Co., Louisville, Kentucky. Many nice things have been reported here about the friendly inspiration of high school chemistry teachers. There is one letter from a prize contest winner who has
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joined this influential group. Vera Lorraine Lescher has returned to Little Rock, Arkansas, and now teaches a t Hall High School and The Arkansas Baptist Hospital. Obviously, many found satisfaction in staying close to university life where teaching and research ofttimes go hand-in-hand. Sevcral chemistshave already been mentioned, but there remains a group composed of Lawrence H. Amundsen, Professor of Chemistry, University of Connecticut; Richard S. Bear, Dean of Graduate School, Boston University; James F. Bonner, Professor of Biology, California Institute of Technology, one of the two-year contest winners; George R. Hunt, graduated from Silver City High School, New Mexico and now is a teacher of mathematics at Odessa College, Texas; Henry C. Thomas left Charleston, South Carolina to go to Yale, but is found a t the University of North Carolina, as Professor of Chemistry. Donald D. Wright, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Brooklyn College, recalled that in preparing for the contest: I had the temerity to write the heads of Chemical Warfare Service and Ordinance an the latest developments in chemical agents and explosives, and might have been investigated as a subversive agent if there had been such in those days.
During World War I1 Donald was an army officer a t Oak Ridge! Two letters have been left for the conclusion. Caryl Parker Haskins, Biophysics and Administration, Carnegie Institution of Washington, was a winner two years while in high school and also won t,he National contest for College Freshmen. He pointed out the importance of the contests by declaring: I feel that the Garvan Awards were extraordinarily conceived, and did a really pioneering task which has not since been exactly duplicated, but which opened the way for such significant and current things as the WestinghousaAAAS Awards.
The concluding letter not only acquaints us with the past and present, but presages the future. Maurice J. Miles graduated from St. George High School. Utah, after winning two essay contests. Later he returned to teach a t Dixie College in St. George, but left in 1953 to become Chief Chemist, Titanium Metals Corporation of America, Henderson, Nevada. He wrote: The Garvan contests did much to give my school days a purpose and some definite goal. This was worth much more than the two $20.00 gold pieces. I shall always be grateful for what the Garvans did for me . . Married, have 11 children, 3 chemistry majors so far, more coming along.
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