Henry Taube

Henry Taube begins his interview with a description of his early career at Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley, and cites some of the reasons for his decision to accept a position at the University of Chicago. While at Cornell, Taube felt suffocated by the authoritarian style of compartmentalized departments. Taube also felt some level of separation at the University of Chicago between department members and members of the Institute for the Study of Metals and the Institute for Nuclear Studies. In 1956, he became chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Chicago. Taube then discusses his relationship with Warren Johnson, the dean of the physical sciences, who he felt helped the department survive in terms of balancing the budget and finding financial support. Taube then reflects on the history of the chemistry department and the various members of the faculty who ran the department in its early years. Next, Taube discusses his means of funding his research during his early years at the University of Chicago and his work with mass spectrometry. While at the University of Chicago, Taube worked with Frank H. Westheimer, a man he greatly respected, as well as Willard H. Libby, who was a personal friend. As a member of the chemistry faculty, Taube enjoyed numerous discussions with his colleagues and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere where faculty felt encouraged to share their research, which greatly contrasted with the atmosphere at Cornell. Taube also describes a confrontation with Morris S. Kharasch, which he felt greatly affected the early part of his term as chairman. Taube concludes his interview by discussing the ways in which his career as an instructor at Cornell and the research he was involved with negatively affected his first marriage and how he learned later to delegate authority and find balance between his professional and personal life.

University of California, Berkeley

1940 - 1941 Instructor

Cornell University

1941 - 1944 Instructor

Cornell University

1944 - 1946 Assistant Professor

University of Chicago

1946 - 1948 Assistant Professor

University of Chicago

1948 - 1953 Associate Professor

University of Chicago

1953 - 1961 Professor

University of Chicago

1956 - 1959 Chairman

Stanford University

1961 - 1986 Professor

Stanford University

1972 - 1974 Chairman

Stanford University

1978 - 1979 Chairman

Stanford University

1986 - 2005 Professor Emeritus

Leon B. Gortler

Leon Gortler is a professor of chemistry at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He holds A.B. and M.S. degrees from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Harvard University where he worked with Paul Bartlett. He has long been interested in the history of chemistry, in particular the development of physical organic chemistry, and has conducted over fifty oral and videotaped interviews with major American chemists.