Herman Mark

In this first of three interviews Herman Mark starts with his study of relatively stable free radicals under the direction of Wilhelm Schlenk, first in Vienna and then in Berlin. After a post­doctoral period at the University of Berlin, Mark was invited by Haber to join the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute at Dahlem. There, Mark collaborated with Polanyi and other colleagues in using x-ray diffraction to establish the crystal structures of small organic molecules and metals. This work was extended to naturally­occurring organic materials such as cellulose and silk. As a consequence, Mark was able to play an important role at the critical 1926 meeting in Düsseldorf, which brought together Staudinger and the opponents of the macromolecular hypothesis.

Mark's next move was to I.G. Farben, where he established a polymer laboratory. That was also where he first collaborated with Kurt Meyer, with whom he published the pioneering x­-ray crystallographic structure of cellulose. Mark describes the laboratories, research directions, and colleagues during his stay at Ludwigshafen. The worsening political climate in Germany prompted Mark to accept a chair at his alma mater. Back in Vienna, he set up the first comprehensive polymer research and teaching institute. Mark concludes this interview by describing the circumstances of an approach from the Canadian International paper Company and his decision to leave Austria.

The second interview details his experiences in the Canadian paper industry and his early ventures into publishing with the first of the Polymer Monograph series. Mark explains how he was able to resume an academic career by starting the polymer program at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, which soon became world-renowned. The wartime years brought new projects and young faculty to Brooklyn. Mark briefly describes this period before going on to the immediate post-war era and the later expansion of the Polymer Research Institute, which forms the introductory section of the final interview. In this interview, Mark tells of his part in the formation of the literature of polymer science and technology: journals, monographs, reference books and encyclopedias. Mark's many international collaborations are outlined, spanning a pre­war expedition to a Caucasian glacier to a demonstration of the nylon rope trick to Emperor Hirohito. Finally, Mark refers to his more recent research interests and describes the changes in research funding that have taken place during the past four decades.

University of Berlin

1921 - 1922 Instructor in Organic Chemistry

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Fiber Chemistry, Berlin-Dahlem

1922 - 1926 Research Fellow

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

1927 - 1932 Associate Professor

I. G. Farbenindustrie

1927 - 1928 Research Chemist

I. G. Farbenindustrie

1928 - 1930 Group Leader

I. G. Farbenindustrie

1930 - 1932 Assistant Research Director

First Chemical Institute, University of Vienna

1932 - 1938 Professor of Chemistry and Director

Canadian International Paper Company, Hawkesbury, Ontario

1938 - 1940 Director

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

1940 - 1942 Adjunct Professor

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

1942 - 1964 Professor

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

1961 - 1964 Dean of Faculty

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

1965 - 1992 Dean and Professor Emeritus

Polymer Research Institute

1946 - 1964 Director

James J. Bohning

James J. Bohning is professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he was a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and has presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was the foundation’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. He is currently a visiting research scientist and CESAR Fellow at Lehigh University. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.

Jeffrey L. Sturchio

Jeffrey L. Sturchio is president and CEO of the Global Health Council. Previously he served as vice president of corporate responsibility at Merck & Co., president of the Merck Company Foundation, and chairman of the U.S. Corporate Council on Africa. Sturchio is currently a visiting scholar at the Institute for Applied Economics and the Study of Business Enterprise at Johns Hopkins University and a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Healthy Next Generation of the World Economic Forum. He received an A.B. in history from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.