Edwin J. Vandenberg

Vandenberg grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey, where his father owned a grain and feed store. After talking about his schooling, where he learned the violin, Edwin Vandenberg recalls a friend and his home laboratory. Attending Stevens Institute of Technology, Vandenberg concentrates on chemical subjects, influenced by F. J. Pond. His first years at Hercules were with Spurlin's paper chemistry group, where he contributed to the understanding of paper sizing as a colloid phenomenon. After a spell working on the wartime production of smokeless powder, Vandenberg returns to the Hercules research center to work on a wide range of polymer syntheses, which he describes in some detail. The interview concludes with an account of his retirement activities at Arizona State University, and reflections on his family, colleagues and ACS activities.

Hercules Incorporated

1939 - 1944 Research Chemist

Sunflower Ordinance Works

1944 - 1945 Assistant Shift Supervisor

Hercules Incorporated

1946 - 1957 Research Chemist

Hercules Incorporated

1957 - 1965 Senior Research Chemist

Hercules Incorporated

1965 - 1982 Research Associate

Arizona State University

1983 - 2005 Adjunct Professor of Chemistry

Arizona State University

1983 - 2005 Visiting Professor of Chemistry

Herman Skolnik

Herman Skolnik received a B.S. in chemical engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Hercules, Inc., as a research chemist in 1942, and served as a divisional research manager from 1952 until his retirement in 1979. He was the founding editor of The Journal of Chemical Documentation, and has published over 200 papers and four books, including A Century of Chemistry, the centennial history of the American Chemical Society.