Robert T. Armstrong
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Dr. Robert Armstrong describes his childhood in Nebraska and Arizona and how he managed to support himself through undergraduate and graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He recollects the faculty at MIT and the support that some of his teachers gave him during his stay there. After graduate research, Armstrong moved to the U.S. Rubber Company, where he coupled investigations of rubber vulcanization with pioneering research on radical polymerization; he early recognized the value of systematic studies of copolymerization. During World War II he was persuaded to work at the North American Rayon Company and he briefly alludes to the conditions he found at their production plant. Soon after WWII, Armstrong started his career at the Celanese Corporation, which was to last until his retirement. He describes his functions as he progressed up the corporate ladder and also outlines his involvement with the establishment of the Research Triangle Institute.
Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | SB | Chemistry |
| 1935 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | PhD | Organic Chemistry |
Professional Experience
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States Rubber Company
North American Rayon Corporation
Celanese Corporation of America
Table of Contents
Born in Nebraska, family moved to Arizona soon after. Father's failed attempt as a banker. Mother as teacher in small rural school. Agricultural prep school after mother's death.
Enters MIT, choice of chemistry as major. Recollections of faculty. Support by part-time work. Undergraduate research and experimental work. Effect of the Depression.
Infrared and Raman spectroscopy of cyclopropane. Instructor at MIT.
Key researchers in U. S. Rubber Research Laboratory. Study of rubber vulcanization and of polymerization. Initiation of copolymerization mechanisms pursued by Mayo, Walling and Lewis.
Circumstances of move during WWII, conditions at plant.
Establish quality control functions. Move to research laboratories at Summit, N. J. and then to Charlotte N. C. as technical director, textile division. Role in formation of Research Triangle Institute. Transfer to head office, New York and progress to Senior Vice-President, Research.
About the Interviewer
James J. Bohning was professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he had been a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was CHF’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. Bohning passed away in September 2011.