2008-09-17:
September Dinner Meeting

Abstract: The importance of chemistry in society cannot be overstated! About one-quarter of the members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame are chemists and their patents have contributed to our national security, our economic well-being, our good health, and a quality of life that is the envy of nations around the world. This talk reviews some of the contributions of the more than seventy chemists in the HOF, including Waldo Semon for PVC, Percy Julian (the first African-American PhD in the US) for Synthetic Cortisone, Wallace Hume Carothers for Nylon, Stephanie Kwolek for Kevlar, Carl Djerassi for Enovid, George Washington Carver for products from peanuts, and others. The qualities which made these individuals successful will be noted.

Biography: The speaker is a retired chemist who spent most of his career in chemical industry technology management. After obtaining his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the U. of California (Berkeley) in 1955 he worked for several chemical companies, in particular, the Stauffer Chemical Company (23 years), where he was Executive V.P. and a member of the Board. In 1989 he was named President of the Edison Polymer Innovation Corporation, a university-industry consortium in Ohio with the mission of translating university research into useful applications. He retired from EPIC in 1995. He has been active in organizations with programs aimed at improving the public’s understanding of the importance of chemistry in their lives: the Industrial Research Institute, as President; the Council for Chemical Research, as Chairman, and on the Boards of the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology and the American Industrial Health Council. He has served the ACS on the Editorial Board of C&EN, on the National Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs and as Chair of the Midland, Michigan and Akron, Ohio Sections. He is a volunteer at the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Cost: There is a choice of Coq au Vin (chicken cooked in red wine sauce with mushrooms and pearl onions) or Beef Bourguignon (tender pieces of beef in burgundy wine mushroom sauce). Vegetarian entrees available upon request. The cost is $33 including wine with dinner, tax, tip and valet parking.

Reservations: Please call Nancy Paradiso in the Section Office at (310) 327-1216 or email office-at-scalacs-dot-org by Monday, September 15th, 2008. Note: Please honor your reservation. If you make a reservation and do not attend, you will be liable for the cost of the dinner.

Directions: From the 101 Freeway Northbound: Exit Alvarado, right on Alvarado, right on Sunset. From the 101 Southbound: Exit Alvarado, left on Alvarado, right on Sunset.