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Interview no.: 0136
Date of interview: 10 February 1995
Location: Bartlesville, Oklahoma
No. of pages: 41
Interviewer:
James J. Bohning
Minutes:
Sponsor: Society of Chemical Industry
Access level: Free Access. Users may view, quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history with the permission of CHF. Users citing interviews for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the CHF Oral History Program to notify CHF of publication and credit CHF using the following format: [Name of interviewee], interview by [name of interviewer] at [interview location], [interview date] (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript # [interview number]).
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The interview begins as J. Paul Hogan discusses his family background and early education in Lowes, Kentucky. Next follows a description of Hogan's college education at Murray State and teaching experiences at the high school and college levels. The central portion of the interview focuses on Hogan's career with Phillips Petroleum Company, which began after his position teaching physics at Oklahoma A&M was eliminated. Hogan's first work at Phillips was with Grant Bailey and Alfred Clark on double bond shifting. After about five years, he switched to the Fischer-Tropsch project, preparing and commercializing a process for the production of hydrocarbon. Next Hogan worked with Clark, and eventually others, beginning by investigating the nickel oxide catalyst and using it to produce 223-trimethylpentene and 223-trimethylpentane. Ultimately Hogan and Banks discovered polypropylene, and the interview examines some of the many patents and papers stemming from this research. Throughout the interview, Hogan comments on his relationships with Clark, Bailey, Robert L. Banks and Clarence Lanning. He also discusses the reaction of Phillips' management to the production of polymers, the work and decisions leading to the commercialization of polyethylene before polypropylene, and the legal situations surrounding the commercialization of polypropylene. Towards the end of the interview, Hogan examines Phillips' attitude toward publishing, records retention, and R&D; his own work on copolymerization; and his views on the research process and the roles of theory and intuition in it. The interview concludes with a discussion of the meaning of the Perkin Medal and the future of chemical R&D.Interview is not available on audiocassette.
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| Title & Description |
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Page No. |
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Childhood, Early and College Education
High school in Lowes, Kentucky. B.S. in chemistry and physics from Murray State University. |
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1 |
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Early Career
Teaching position at Mayfield High School. Position teaching physics in Army pre-flight school at Oklahoma A&M. |
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4 |
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Early Work for Phillips Petroleum Company
Work on Fischer-Tropsch project. Work on Nickel oxide catalyst project. |
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6 |
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Polypropylene Discovery and Patent
Discovery process. Patents and papers on polymerization. |
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14 |
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Later work for Phillips Petroleum Company
Perkin Medal award. Copolymerization of polyethylene. Views of intuition and theory in research process. Comments on atmosphere at Phillips. |
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26 |
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Notes
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37 |
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Index
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38 |
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| 1942 |
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B.S., Chemistry and Physics, Murray State University |
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| Mayfield High School |
| 1942-1943 |
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Chemistry and Physics Instructor |
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| Oklahoma State University of Agriculture and Applied Science |
| 1943-1944 |
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Physics Instructor |
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| Phillips Petroleum Company |
| 1944-1947 |
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Research Chemist |
| 1947-1954 |
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Project Leader |
| 1954-1960 |
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Group Leader |
| 1960-1977 |
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Section Supervisor |
| 1977-1985 |
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Senior Research Associate |
| 1985-Present |
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Retired |
| 1985-1986 |
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Consultant |
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| Neuman, Williams, Anderson, and Olson |
| 1986-1993 |
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Independent Consultant |
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| 1969 |
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Award for Creative Invention, American Chemical Society
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| 1971 |
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Honarary D.Sc., Murray State University
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| 1972 |
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Pioneer Chemist Award, American Institute of Chemists
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| 1972 |
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Distinguished Alumnus Award, Murray State University
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| 1972 |
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Lifetime Appointment as Kentucky Colonel by Governor of Kentucky
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| 1976 |
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Inventor of the Year Award, Oklahoma Bar Association, Copyright and Patent Section
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| 1981 |
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Man of the Year Award for Outstanding Achievement in Polymeric Materials, Society of Plastics Engineers
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| 1987 |
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Perkin Medal Award, Society of Chemical Industry (American Section)
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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.
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