Raphael Katzen

Raphael Katzen begins the interview by discussing his family background and childhood. He attended an all-boys high school, DeWitt Clinton, in New York and graduated from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1936. While an undergraduate at Poly, Katzen became acquainted with his mentor, Donald F. Othmer. Othmer, the generous and helpful man that he was, aided Katzen whenever possible by finding Katzen summer employment, taking Katzen on off-campus consultations, and requesting permission for Katzen to obtain his master's degree in absentia while working at Northwood Chemical Company. After receiving his doctorate in 1942, Katzen became involved with the acid hydrolysis of wood in the production of ethanol at Vulcan-Cincinnati Incorporated. With nearly seventeen years experience behind him, nine years at Vulcan, and seven years in the operating industry, in 1953 Katzen decided to start his own company, Raphael Katzen Associates International, Inc., focusing on process design engineering and consultation. Katzen Associates, now known as KATZEN International, Inc., has consulted and reorganized numerous companies over the last fifty years, such as Vulcan-Cincinnati, Air Products and Chemicals Inc., and Union Carbide Corporation. Katzen concludes the interview with a discussion of his current work with Raphael Katzen, PE, his marriage to and life with Selma M. Katzen, and his friendship with Donald and Mildred Topp Othmer.

Northwood Chemical Company

1937 - 1940 Chemical Supervisor and Director of Research, Chemical Products

Diamond Alkali Company

1942 - 1944 Technical Supervisor for Research and Development, Northwood Project

Vulcan-Cincinnati, Inc.

1944 - 1953 Project Manager, Design and Construction and Manager, Engineering Division

Raphael Katzen Associates International, Inc.

1953 - 1997 Chairman and President, Consulting and Process Design

Raphael Katzen Associates International, Inc.

1953 - 1980 Managing Partner

Raphael Katzen, P.E.

1998 Consulting Engineer

David C. Brock

David C. Brock is a senior research fellow with the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. As a historian of science and technology, he specializes in the history of semiconductor science, technology, and industry; the history of instrumentation; and oral history. Brock has studied the philosophy, sociology, and history of science at Brown University, the University of Edinburgh, and Princeton University.

In the policy arena Brock recently published Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists, a white-paper case study for the Center’s Studies in Materials Innovation. With Hyungsub Choi he is preparing an analysis of semiconductor technology roadmapping, having presented preliminary results at the 2009 meeting of the Industry Studies Association.

Arnold Thackray

Arnold Thackray founded the Chemical Heritage Foundation and served the organization as president for 25 years. He is currently CHF’s chancellor. Thackray received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history of science from Cambridge University. He has held appointments at Cambridge, Oxford University, and Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In 1983 Thackray received the Dexter Award from the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the history of chemistry. He served for more than a quarter century on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the founding chairman of the Department of History and Sociology of Science and is currently the Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus.