Roger Adams

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Roger Adams, see Roger Adams (disambiguation).
Roger Adams
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Doctoral advisorsH. A. Torrey,
Charles Loring Jackson
Doctoral studentsErnest H. Volwiler, Samuel M. McElvain, Wallace Carothers, William Edward Hanford, Edward Marion Augustus Chandler

Roger Adams (January 2, 1889 – July 6, 1971) was an American

postgraduate students, and served in military science during World War I and World War II
.

Early life

Adams was born in

Adams family, and was descended from John Adams
's grandfather.

Adams attending

Cambridge Latin High School (now called Cambridge Rindge and Latin). In 1900, the family moved to Cambridge
, which was closer to the two colleges.

Adams entered

Emil Fischer and Otto Diels in Berlin, Germany and that of Richard Willstätter in Dahlem
outside of Berlin.

After returning from Europe in 1913, Adams returned to Harvard and worked as a

James Bryant Conant
.

Academic career

In 1916, Adams accepted an offer of an assistant professorship from

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. He began a career at UIUC that would span 56 years. Adams succeeded Noyes as department head in 1926, and remained in that position until 1954. During this time, Adams made several well-known discoveries.

Roger Adams and his students developed the so-called Adams' catalyst, which is one of the most readily-prepared and active

ammonium chloroplatinate. Adams's group also developed a low-pressure apparatus for using the catalyst, which had a profound effect in the synthesis and structural elucidation of organic compounds as well as biochemical compounds
.

Working at the

Noyes Laboratory
, Adams and his more than 250 graduate students made many significant discoveries:

At UIUC, Adams took charge of the

James Bryant Conant
referred to as the "Adams Annual."

Adams vigorously researched methods of preparing

Conant headed research groups and E.P. Kohler, an old faculty friend of Adams from Harvard, was in charge of the Offense Section
.

Adams's return to UIUC began a period (1918–1926) of intense research, with 45 Ph.D. students that resulted in 73 publications.

In July 1940,

James Bryant Conant was intent on Adams leading the effort to develop new explosives and create synthetic chemicals. However, Bush's efforts were stalled in getting Adams a security clearance. The Army cleared Adams, but the Navy
refused.

At this time the

1937 Marijuana Tax Act. For the purposes of this research, Adams had obtained red oil extract of the plant legally from the United States Department of the Treasury. In 1939, this was the main focus of Adams's work. For these reasons, the Office of Naval Intelligence said it would never approve security clearance
for Adams.

Hoover saw that political pressure was building to give Adams security clearance and that the FBI might have its facts wrong, so eventually backed down, indicating that "Professor Adams" is a very common name and there may be some confusion. However, Hoover continued to be suspicious of the political loyalties of the scientists involved in the World War II mobilization because of their internationalist worldview.

In the end Roger Adams got his security clearance and took charge of a successful effort to manufacture

E.K. Bolton (Adams's friend from Harvard) at DuPont
.

In Adams's case, the FBI had much of its information wrong. Adams was politically active, but not affiliated with any group called the Lincoln's Birthday Committee for the Advancement of Science. He was a member of the Lincoln's Birthday Committee for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom (LBCDIF), which was founded by the prominent anthropologist Franz Boas to discredit Nazi racial policies.

Because of Adams significant contribution to the field, in 1959, the Roger Adams Award was established as an ACS National Award to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of organic chemistry. The award is given every other year where the award address is provided at the National Organic Chemistry Symposium, which is organized by the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry.[6]

Roger Adams was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1967 in the area of Science.

Awards and honors

References

  1. ISBN 0-309-03287-3
    . Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302000
    . Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity".
  4. ISSN 0002-7863
    .
  5. doi:10.1021/ja01255a061
    .
  6. PMID 23721508
    .
  7. ^ "Roger Adams". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  8. ^ "Roger Adams". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  9. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  10. ^ "Ira Remsen Award". Maryland Section. 14 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  11. ^ "SCI Perkin Medal". Science History Institute. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Charles Lathrop Parsons Award". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  13. American Academy of Achievement
    .
  14. ^ Roger Adams on the Lincoln Academy site, 1967

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roger_Adams&oldid=1217694558"