John D. Roberts

John Roberts begins the interview with a discussion of his family background. He recounts his early interest in chemistry and his experiences assisting junior high and high school science teachers. He also mentions the impact of Caltech on his interest in chemistry. He than describes his undergraduate years at UCLA, which included a great deal of research and teaching experience. After a brief period at Penn State, he returned to UCLA for graduate school and continued research. He then went to Harvard on National Research Council Fellowship. He recalls fondly his relationship with Cope and other faculty members at MIT, and details his accomplishments there; he also comments on MIT's physical plant, facilities, administration, and general atmosphere. After describing much of his research, he concludes by expressing a bit of guilt for leaving MIT when he did, but he also remembers his excitement in accepting a position at Caltech, to which it seems he had always aspired.

Pennsylvania State University

1941 - 1942 Teaching Assistant, Chemistry

University of California, Los Angeles

1942 - 1943 Research Assistant, National Defense Research Committee

University of California, Los Angeles

1943 - 1944 Abbott Laboratories Research Fellow, chemistry

University of California, Los Angeles

1944 - 1944 Teaching Assistant

University of California, Los Angeles

1944 - 1945 Instructor, Chemistry

Harvard University

1945 - 1946 National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow

Harvard University

1946 - 1946 Instructor, Chemistry

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1946 - 1947 Instructor, Chemistry

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1947 - 1950 Assistant Professor, Organic Chemistry

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1950 - 1952 Associate Professor, Organic Chemistry

California Institute of Technology

1952 - 1953 Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow

California Institute of Technology

1953 - 1972 Professor of Chemistry

California Institute of Technology

1955 - 1956 Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow

California Institute of Technology

1963 - 1968 Chairman, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

California Institute of Technology

1972 - 1973 Acting Chairman, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

California Institute of Technology

1972 - 1988 Institute Professor of Chemistry

California Institute of Technology

1980 - 1983 Vice President, Provost and Dean of the Faculty

California Institute of Technology

1988 Institute Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus

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.