The Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois

The R. C. Fuson Fellowship fund supports fellowships for graduate students in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois.

Reynold C. Fuson was a faculty member at the University of Illinois Department of Chemistry from 1927-1963.  During those years, he became known as one of the Big Four, a group of chemists at Illinois which was also comprised of Roger Adams, Carl "Speed" Marvel, and Ralph Shriner.  A distinguished faculty member, he supervised 76 undergraduate research students, 154 doctoral candidates and 15 postdoctoral fellows during his tenure at Illinois.  He authored or co-authored five text books, including the well-known "Systematic Identification of Organic Compounds", which has long been a classic in the field.  Among him many scientific contributions was his origination of the principle of vinylogy.  He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a charter member of the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois.  Yet in spite of his outstanding stature as a research chemist, Fuson's deepest interest was always in the teaching and welfare of his students. 

Click here to make a donation to the R. C. Fuson Fellowship Fund.