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Interview no.: 0091
Date of interview: 1 March 1991
Location: Northwestern University
No. of pages: 60
Interviewer:
James J. Bohning
Minutes: 180
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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Fred Basolo begins his interview by discussing his childhood in Coello, Illinois and his elementary and high school education. He attended Southern Illinois University where he studied to be a chemistry teacher, but his instructors encouraged him to attend graduate school in chemistry. At the University of Illinois, he studied inorganic chemistry with John Bailar. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked at Rohm and Haas in Philadelphia for three years. He decided to return to academia and accepted a positions as professor of chemistry at Northwestern University. His research interests have included kinetics and mechanisms and metal carbonyls. Basolo describes the connections he made with Italian scientists and his American Chemical Society presidency and concludes by offering his opinion of how general and inorganic chemistry courses should be taught.
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Family Background
Born in coal mining town, Coello, Illinois. Parents become U.S. citizens. Brother and sister. Affect of the Depression. |
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1 |
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Early Education
Elementary school. Influence of high school teacher on decision to go to college. Public Works Administration youth program provides college tuition. High school science and laboratory experiments. |
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2 |
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Southern Illinois University
Studies to be a high school teacher. Influence of professors. Chemistry courses, textbooks, and laboratory work. Fellow students. |
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3 |
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University of Illinois
Passes German and French exams. Chemistry instructors. Studies inorganic chemistry with John Bailar. Laboratory instruments. Early research and publications. |
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7 |
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Rohm and Haas
Impression of Philadelphia. Works on mica project and synthesis of zirconium compounds. Decides to return to academia. |
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13 |
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Northwestern University
Small number of graduate students in chemistry department. Colleagues. Gets first graduate student. Works on solution kinetics and mechanisms. Collaboration with Ralph Pearson. Disagreement with Christopher Ingold. |
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Guggenheim Fellowship in Copenhagen
Introduced to crystal field theory. Attends international conference on coordination chemistry and meets Walter Hieber. Begins work with metal carbonyls. Collaborates with Arthur Adamson. |
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23 |
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Return to Northwestern
Inorganic chemistry graduate students. Makes connections with Italian scientists. Helps Luigi Sacconi publish papers in English journals. Reasons for not getting involved with photochemistry. Interaction among unversity departments. Return to carbonyl work. |
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29 |
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American Chemical Society Presidency
Proposes term limits for committee appointees. Insists on one national meeting. Wants to reduce number of committees. Academic/industrial interface. Represents ACS at Priestley anniversary. |
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41 |
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Other Activities
Involvement with Beckman Center funding. Opinion on how general and inorganic chemistry should be taught. |
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48 |
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Notes
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53 |
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Index
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56 |
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| 1940 |
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B. Ed., Southern Illinois University |
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| 1942 |
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M.S., Inorganic Chemistry, University of Illinois |
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| 1943 |
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Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, University of Illinois (mentor: John C. Bailar, Jr.) |
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| Rohm and Haas |
| 1943-1946 |
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Research Chemist |
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| Northwestern University |
| 1946-1948 |
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Instructor, Chemistry Department |
| 1948-1953 |
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Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department |
| 1953-1959 |
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Associate Professor, Chemistry Department |
| 1959-1980 |
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Professor, Chemistry Department |
| 1969-1972 |
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Chairman of the Chemistry Department |
| 1980-1990 |
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Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor, Chemistry Department |
| 1990- |
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Emeritus Morrison Professor, Chemistry Department |
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| 1954 |
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Guggenheim Fellow (University of Copenhagen)
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| 1961 |
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Senior NSF Fellow (University of Rome)
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| 1964 |
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Award for Research in Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
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| 1971 |
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North Regional Section Citation of Excellence, American Chemical Society
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| 1972 |
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John C. Bailar, Jr. Medal, University of Illinois (first recipient)
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| 1974 |
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Alumni Achievement Award, Southern Illinois University
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| 1975 |
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Award for Distinguished Service in Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
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| 1976 |
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Francis Patrick Dwyer Medal, University of New South Wales, Australia
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| 1977 |
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Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
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| 1977 |
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Honorary Member, Phi Lambda Upsilon
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| 1979 |
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Fellow, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science
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| 1979 |
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Member, National Academy of Sciences
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| 1981 |
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Honorary Member, Italian Chemical Society
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| 1981 |
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James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of C
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| 1983 |
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President, American Chemical Society
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| 1983 |
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Oesper Memorial Award, American Chemical Society, Cincinnati Section
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| 1983 |
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Corresponding Member, Chemical Society of Peru
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| 1983 |
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Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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| 1984 |
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Doctor of Science (Honorary), University of Southern Illinois
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| 1985 |
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Honorary Professor, Lanzhou University, China
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| 1987 |
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Foreign Member, National Academy of Science, Italy
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| 1988 |
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Laurea Honoris Causa, University of Turin
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| 1988 |
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IX Century Medal, Bologna University
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| 1988 |
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Award for Research in Inorganic Chemistry, Societá Chimica d'Italia
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| 1988 |
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Honorary Professor, Zhongshan University, China
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| 1990 |
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Harry and Carol Mosher Award, American Chemical Society, Santa Clara Valley
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| 1991 |
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Padova University Medal
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| 1991 |
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Distincion Bicentenaria, University of Los Andes in Merida
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| 1991 |
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Chinese Chemical Society Medal
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| 1992 |
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Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists
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| 1992 |
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Monie A. Ferst Award, Sigma Xi
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| 1992 |
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Humboldt Senior U.S. Scientist Award
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| 1993 |
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Gold Medal Award, American Institute of Chemists
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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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