Fred Basolo
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Fred Basolo begins this interview by discussing his childhood in Coello, Illinois, and his elementary and high school education. He attended Southern Illinois University where he studied to be a chemistry teacher but his instructors encouraged him to attend graduate school in chemistry. At University of Illinois, he studied inorganic chemistry with John Bailar. After receiving his PhD, he worked at Rohm and Haas in Philadelphia for three years. He decided to return to academia and accepted a positions as professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. His research interests have included kinetics and mechanisms, and metal carbonyls. Basolo describes the connections he made with Italian scientists and his American Chemical Society presidency and concludes by offering his opinion of how general and inorganic chemistry courses should be taught.
Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Southern Illinois University | B Ed | |
| 1942 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | MS | Inorganic Chemistry |
| 1943 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | PhD | Inorganic Chemistry (mentor: John C. Bailar, Jr.) |
Professional Experience
Rohm and Haas
Northwestern University
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1954 to 1955 | Guggenheim Fellow, University of Copenhagen |
| 1961 to 1962 | Senior NSF Fellow, University of Rome |
| 1964 | Award for Research in Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society (ACS) |
| 1969 | NATO Distinguished Professor, Technische Universität München |
| 1971 | North Regional Section Citation of Excellence, ACS |
| 1972 | John C. Bailar, Jr. Medal, University of Illinois |
| 1974 | Alumni Achievement Award, Southern Illinois University |
| 1975 | Award for Distinguished Service in Inorganic Chemistry, ACS |
| 1976 | Francis Patrick Dwyer Medal, University of New South Wales, Australia |
| 1977 | Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1977 | Honorary Member, Phi Lambda Upsilon |
| 1979 | Fellow, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science |
| 1979 | Member, National Academy of Sciences |
| 1981 | Honorary Member, Italian Chemical Society |
| 1981 | James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry, Northeastern Section, ACS |
| 1983 | President, ACS |
| 1983 | Oesper Memorial Award, ACS, Cincinnati Section |
| 1983 | Corresponding Member, Chemical Society of Peru |
| 1983 | Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 1984 | D. Sc. (honorary), Southern Illinois University |
| 1985 | Honorary Professor, Lanzhou University, China |
| 1987 | Foreign Member, National Academy of Science, Italy |
| 1988 | Laurea honoris causa, University of Turin |
| 1988 | IX Century Medal, Bologna University |
| 1988 | Award for Research in Inorganic Chemistry, Italian Chemical Society |
| 1988 | Honorary Professor, Zhongshan University, China |
| 1990 | Harry and Carol Mosher Award, ACS, Santa Clara Valley |
| 1991 | Padova University Medal |
| 1991 | Distincion Bicentenaria, University of Los Andes in Merida |
| 1991 | Chinese Chemical Society Medal |
| 1992 | Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists |
| 1992 | Sigma Xi Monie A. Ferst Award |
| 1992 | Humboldt Senior US Scientist Award |
| 1993 | Gold Medal Award, American Institute of Chemists |
| 1996 | First Lecturer and Medalist of the Royal Society of Chemistry Joseph Chatt Award |
| 1996 | Josiah Williard Gibbs Medal |
| 1996 | Member, Chemistry Department Hall of Fame, Southern Illinois University |
| 1997 | Laurea honoris causa, University of Palermo, Sacconi Memorial Lecture |
Table of Contents
Born in coal mining town, Coello, Illinois. Parents become US citizens. Brother and sister. Affect of the Depression on family.
Elementary school. Influence of high school teacher on decision to go to college. Public Works Administration youth program provides college tuition. High school science and laboratory experiments.
Studies to be a high school teacher. Influence of professors. Chemistry courses, textbooks, and laboratory work. Fellow students.
Passes German and French exams. Chemistry instructors. Studies inorganic chemistry with John Bailar. Laboratory instruments. Early research and publications.
Impression of Philadelphia. Works on mica project and synthesis of zirconium compounds. Decides to return to academia.
Small number of graduate students in chemistry department. Colleagues. Gets first graduate student. Works on solution kinetics and mechanisms. Collaboration with Ralph Pearson. Disagreement with Christopher Ingold.
Introduced to crystal field theory. Attends international conference on coordination chemistry and meets Walter Hieber. Begins work with metal carbonyls. Collaborates with Arthur Adamson.
Inorganic chemistry graduate students. Makes connections with Italian scientists. Helps Luigi Sacconi publish papers in English journals. Reasons for not getting involved with photochemistry. Interaction among unversity departments. Return to carbonyl work.
Proposes term limits for committee appointees. Insists on one national meeting. Wants to reduce number of committees. Academic/industrial interface. Represents ACS at Priestley anniversary.
Involvement with Beckman Center funding. Opinion on how general and inorganic chemistry should be taught.
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.