John R. Ferraro
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
John R. Ferraro was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, one of two children of Sicilian immigrants. His father was a tool and die maker, his mother a seamstress in a coat factory. His parents had little education themselves but valued it highly for their children. Ferraro attended Richard T. Crane Technical High School, where Francis Coulson fostered his interest in chemistry. Though the Great Depression continued, Ferraro found a job at General Motors, where he worked for three years before entering Illinois Institute of Technology, majoring in chemistry, working with Norman Kharasch. After graduation Ferraro entered the U. S. Army and was sent to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for training in meteorology. He met his future wife there. He spent the remaining three and a half years of World War II in the Burma-China-India theater and another six months awaiting a ship home. Finally back home, Ferraro received a master's degree from Northwestern University, working under Charles Hurd and leaving organic chemistry behind for good. Next he accepted a junior scientist position at Argonne National Laboratory, working in solvent extraction. He became interested in infrared spectroscopy, then far-infrared (FIR). Ferraro wrote what others have considered to be the seminal work on far-infrared spectroscopy and bought the first dedicated FIR instruments from Beckman Instruments and PerkinElmer. He taught at Loyola University in Chicago for five years, leaving there as professor emeritus. He spent a year at the Lunar Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, learning Fourier transform (FTIR) spectroscopy. Ferraro then moved back to Argonne, where he spent a total of fifty-seven years. Ferraro discusses his students; his theory about innovation; his travels and interactions with colleagues around the world; his publications; his interest in history and his genealogy; and his continuing affiliation with three museums. He talks about instrumentation and the nexus between technique and equipment; what he sees as the enormous improvements in instruments; the serendipity of Fourier transform and what it has made possible; and miniaturization. Ferraro summarizes his own contributions to the field, particularly Raman, infrared, and far-infrared spectroscopy. Pointing out that his predictions of 1967 have come true, he theorizes about the future, discussing an expansion of ultraviolet Raman; terahertz spectroscopy; improved fiber optics; and greater importance of Raman to medicine. At the end of the interview, Ferraro talks in greater detail about his book Vibrational Spectroscopy at High External Pressures: The Diamond Anvil Cell and an article, "Recent Trends and Developments in Inorganic Far Infrared Spectroscopy," in Analytical Chemistry, as well as his publishing history and the number of awards he received for his work in the field of spectroscopy.
Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Illinois Institute of Technology | BS | Chemistry |
| 1948 | Northwestern University | MS | Chemistry |
| 1954 | Illinois Institute of Technology | PhD | Physical Chemistry |
Professional Experience
US Army
Argonne National Laboratory
Loyola University
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1973 | Outstanding Achievements in Spectroscopy Award, New York Section of Society of Applied Spectroscopy |
| 1973 | Distinguished Scientist Award, Argonne Universities Association |
| 1973 to 1974 | Appointee, Hasler Award in Spectroscopy |
| 1974 | Honorary Member, Society of Applied Spectroscopy |
| 1975 | Meggers Award, Society of Applied Spectroscopy |
| 1975 | Achievement in Spectroscopy Award, Chicago Section of Society of Applied Spectroscopy |
| 1986 | Distinguished Service Award, Society of Applied Spectroscopy |
| 1990 | Honorary Member, Coblentz Society |
| 1991 | Emeritus Fellow, Italian Chemical Society |
| 1996 | 50 Years of Infrared Spectroscopy Symposium Honoring John R. Ferraro, Eastern Analytical Symposium |
| 1996 | Editor Appreciation Award, Journal of Applied Spectroscopy |
| 2004 | Fellow of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy |
Table of Contents
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Parents Sicilian immigrants. New Orleans, Louisiana. Father a tool and die maker, mother a seamstress in coat factory. One sister. Parents had little education, so valued it for children. Richard T. Crane Technical High School. Francis Coulson. Graduation in Depression. General Motors parts factory. Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Major inchemistry. Norman Kharasch
After graduation entered U. S. Army. Washed DuPont's chemicals for bombs. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Training as meteorologist. Met future wife. US Army Air Forces Intelligence. Burma-China-India (BCI) front. Three andone-half years of work in BCI. Six months in Calcutta, India, waiting to be senthome; betting on horse races.
Northwestern University. Master's degree. Charles Hurd. Physical chemistry. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Fifty-seven years at ANL. Finished PhD. Solvent extraction. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy; far-infrared (FIR).
More on far-infrared spectroscopy. Beckman Instruments's first FIR instrument. Bought first dedicated FIR instruments from Beckman and PerkinElmer. Senior scientist. Culture at Argonne. Freedom at work. Students. Education division
Early retirement. Searle professorship of chemistry at Loyola University inChicago. Alkaline metal solids. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Academic politics. Professor Emeritus. University of Arizona's Lunar Planetary Laboratory. Gerard Kuiper. FTIR.
Consultant. Exposure to organophosphides; liver damage. Funding and projectapproval. Interaction with other scientists. Nearly all his PhD students atArgonne women. Patent. Publications. Innovation. Travel. Rome, Italy. University of Florence. University of Cagliari. University of Aachen. Publications. Kazuo Nakamoto. Raman spectroscopy.
Organic chemistry. Inorganic field. Analytical chemistry. Pittsburgh Conferenceon Analytical Chemistry and Mass Spectrometry (PittCon). PittCon awards. Museums. Chemical Heritage Foundation. World War II Museum in NewOrleans. Chicago's World War II Italian-American Veterans Museum. Interest in history. Genealogy. History of CBI group.
Early electronics in spectroscopy. Interferometer invention. Cooley-Tukeyalgorithm. Commercial FT interferometer. Computers. Serendipity. Fouriertransform. Miniaturization ancillary to techniques. Charge-coupled device(CCD). Diodes. CD diodes. Fiber optics. Miniaturization in opticalspectroscopy and Raman. Expense of lasers. Coherent anti-Stokes Ramanspectroscopy (CARS). Inverse Raman.
Colleagues and peers. Funding in United States and in Europe. HarwellLaboratory paper. Enjoyment of writing. Collaborations with instrumentproviders. Consultant at Digilab. Infrared spectroscopy used in war effort. Synthetic rubber. Vibrational Spectroscopy at High External Pressures: TheDiamond Anvil Cell and "Recent Trends and Developments in Inorganic Far Infrared Spectroscopy" in Analytical Chemistry. Region and coordinatedinstrument.
Ultraviolet Raman. Terahertz spectroscopy. Fiber optics. Raman and medicine. Predictions from 1967.
About the Interviewer
Michael A. Grayson is a member of the Mass Spectrometry Research Resource at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his BS degree in physics from St. Louis University in 1963 and his MS in physics from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1965. He is the author of over 45 papers in the scientific literature. Before joining the Research Resource, he was a staff scientist at McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratory. While completing his undergraduate and graduate education, he worked at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, where he learned the art and science of mass spectrometry. Grayson is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), and has served many different positions within that organization. He has served on the Board of Trustees of CHF and is currently a member of CHF's Heritage Council. He currently pursues his interest in the history of mass spectrometry by recording oral histories, assisting in the collection of papers, and researching the early history of the field.