Oral history interview with Charles D. Hurd
- 1991-Feb-28
Oral history interview with Charles D. Hurd
- 1991-Feb-28
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Charles Hurd begins his oral history by discussing his early life and his later educational and professional experiences, including his Ph.D. work in organic chemistry at Princeton University and his summer job in Thomas Edison's laboratory. Hurd was recruited to Northwestern University by Frank Whitmore and remained there for his entire career, while consulting for various companies. Hurd reflects on his research, teaching and creation of Molecular Models as a teaching tool, and the negative public perception of chemical industry.
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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.
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| Oral history number | 0090 |
Related Items
Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Syracuse University | BS | Chemistry |
| 1921 | Princeton University | PhD | Organic Chemistry |
Professional Experience
Thomas A. Edison
- 1917
United States. Army
- 1918 Chemical Service Section
University of Illinois at Chicago
- 1921 to 1924 Chemistry Department, Instructor
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
- 1924 to 1928 Assistant Professor
- 1928 to 1933 Associate Professor
- 1933 to 1949 Professor
- 1951 to 1965 Morrison Professor
- 1951 to 1965 Clare Hamilton Hall Research Professor
- 1965 Hamilton Hall Research Professor, Emeritus
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1943 | ScD, honorary, Syracuse University |
| 1958 | Midwest Award, American Chemical Society, St. Louis Section |
| 1971 | Austin M. Patterson Award, American Chemical Society |
| 1974 | Honorary membership, Illinois State Academy of Science |
| 1978 | Distinguished Service Award, American Chemical Society, Chicago Section |
Cite as
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The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.