Frederick T. Wall

Frederick Wall begins the interview with a discussion of his family background and childhood in Minnesota. During high school, Wall developed an interest in chemistry and mathematics, and planned to become a chemical engineer. He attended the University of Minnesota, studying both chemistry and chemical engineering. One of his professors there, George Glockler, influenced both his decision to focus on physical chemistry and to pursue graduate work. After graduating with a B.S. in chemistry in 1933, Wall was awarded an assistantship at Caltech, which he accepted. Due to financial difficulties exacerbated by the Depression, he only spent a year at Caltech. While he was there, however, he was greatly influenced by Linus Pauling. Wall moved back to the University of Minnesota, and continued his graduate work under Glockler. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1935, and soon thereafter accepted a teaching position at the University of Illinois. He began working on infrared spectroscopy, and did some theoretical work on covalent and ionic character. Gradually, he became interested in polymers, and when World War II broke, he volunteered to work on the rubber problem. Carl Marvel and Roger Adams then helped Wall to get a consulting job with DuPont, which he continued for many years. In 1955, he became Dean of the graduate college at Illinois. In 1963, Wall decided to leave Illinois and moved to the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he became Chairman of the chemistry department and Vice Chancellor for Research at Santa Barbara and later Vice Chanellor for Research at San Diego. In 1969, he became executive director of the American Chemical Society (ACS), but soon rejoined academia, becoming professor of chemistry at Rice University. At Rice, Wall resumed his theoretical polymer research, particularly polymer configuration on lattices. Seven years later, he moved back to California, taking a lecturing position at San Diego State University, and in 1981 becoming an adjunct professor at the University of California at San Diego. The interview concludes with a discussion of his time at the ACS and his colleagues in California.

University of Illinois

1937 - 1939 Instructor

University of Illinois

1939 - 1941 Associate

University of Illinois

1941 - 1943 Assistant Professor

University of Illinois

1943 - 1946 Associate Professor

University of Illinois

1946 - 1964 Professor

University of Illinois

1950 - 1963 Chairman, University Research Board

University of Illinois

1955 - 1963 Dean of Graduate College and Research Professor

University of California, Santa Barbara

1964 - 1966 Professor and Chairman, Department of Chemistry

University of California, Santa Barbara

1965 - 1966 Vice Chancellor for Research

University of California, San Diego

1966 - 1969 Professor of Chemistry, Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research

American Chemical Society

1969 - 1972 Executive Director

Rice University

1972 - 1978 Professor of Chemistry

San Diego State University

1979 - 1981 Lecturer in Chemistry

University of California, San Diego

1981 - 1991 Adjunct Professor of Chemistry

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.