Recollections of the Chemistry Ph.D. Program

At the U. of 1. in the early '40s

by

John C. (Robby) Robinson, Jr.

Preface

For some time, I have wanted to collect remembrances of "the way it was" from the older alumni of the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois in Urbana- Champaign. I have had the opportunity to talk to many alumni of all ages. Whenever I ran into one of our older graduates, in the course of my work as editor of the School's Alumni Newsletter, I would encourage him to send me his recollections. Unfortunately, few did but John Robby Robinson took me seriously and provided a number of his favorite recollections.

In some measure, his stories parallel and, in two cases, duplicated a small collection by Professor R.C. Fuson, which has had a very limited distribution. Robby was not aware of Fuson's stories and received a copy only after the stories in this collection had been written. Fuson's were elegantly crafted and might be considered "a view from the top" whereas Robby's less formal reminiscences might be termed "a view from lower down."

Robby wrote more stories than could be included in this collection and I have, with his permission, exercised my editorial prerogatives to select, abbreviate, and amend. I hope you will enjoy his vignettes from the early 1940s.

Ellen Handler, Editor

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