Talk given by Nelson J. Leonard for the Noyes Laboratory Centennial Celebration on September 13, 2002
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During my early years at the University of Illinois, Biochemistry was housed on the fourth floor of Noyes Laboratory. William C. Rose, who had come to the U. of I. in 1922, was the senior professor of biochemistry and also acting Head of the Department during 1942-1946, while he served on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council during 1940-1947. He worked on pepsin, creatin and creatinin, and purine metabolism to uric acid, but his major contributions were in the quantitation of the essential amino acids in rats, in dogs, and in man (with the graduate students as individual reaction vessels) and in their intermediate metabolism. His citation for the National Medal of Science, received in 1966, was as follows:
At the celebration of Rose's 90th birthday, he was given the opportunity of responding to kudos and did so with a remarkable description of what it was like to do research. Walking home after the celebration, my wife said to me, "Nels, if you had ever described your work with such enthusiasm, I might have become a chemist or biochemist!" It was Herbert E. Carter working with Will Rose who had done the research on threonine, including synthesis, and had migrated from the biochemistry of amino acids to that of the brain lipids and fatty acid metabolism. His contributions to antibiotic research were prodigious during the war. Incidentally, he was the first to point out the special properties of what are now called prochiral molecules, which he did for me when we were bowling one Wednesday night. On the staff from 1932, he became Head of the Department in 1954 and then Director of the School of Chemical Sciences. Granting that I was a reasonably good chemist, he tried to assist me in becoming a better bowler, golfer, and squash player. There are good stories behind (1) his obtaining for us the right to show our own slides in seminars, an earlier province of members of the electricians' union, and (2) his convincing the director of the U. of I. physical plant that we should name the unit construction adviser to the architectural firm that was designing what would become the Roger Adams Laboratory. I have already mentioned (3) his jump support of E. J. Corey. These were bold acts that we have savored in remembrance when we have visited each other on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. It was the voice of Carl Vestling, a third member of the Biochemistry team, that told me in 1952 that my favorite house in Urbana (adjacent to his) was for sale and that I might be able to buy it. His was my neighborly voice.
Therald Moeller in Inorganic Chemistry was an earlier neighborly voice, for he had alerted me to the expected vacancy of a first floor apartment in 1947 within easy walking distance of Noyes Laboratory. It is again apparent to me as I speak of the voices that I still hear that the faculty members took care of each other in many ways. Therald was also a guide in helping me set up some basicity determinations that had to be very accurate. John C. Bailar's contributions to the Department (Head of the summer session, for example), to teaching, and to the guidance of research students are legendary. He is regarded as the "father" of coordination chemistry, and his analysis, with E. J. Corey, of the conformations of organometallic compounds is a classic. He was also the producer of a record number of presidents of the American Chemical Society. His advice in general was fatherly.
George L. Clark and I talked mainly about music. He was a cellist. As Head of Analytical Chemistry, his research interests were mainly in electron microscopy and powder x-ray determinations. G. Frederick Smith in quantitative analysis, of perchlorate chemistry fame and a helpful adviser on the subject, was a very early (1928) example of a professor who also directed a company. It is said that part of the high combustibility of Noyes Laboratory was due to perchlorates absorbed in the flooring. Herbert Laitinen brought analytical research into strong reputation by his work on polarography, electrochemistry of fused salts, and electrodeposition of metals. He worked diligently on the design of the new laboratory, as did J.C. Martin, Ed Cavanaugh, and I. In performing as part of a purposeful group for nine years, those voices blended into a trusted quartet, to good result. Howard Malmstadt introduced the study of electronics, both theoretical and practical to training in analytical chemistry.
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