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History of Penn State Chemistry

31 December 2005

Science Journal, Spring 2006

Cover of Labors and LegaciesA recent graduate of Penn State’s undergraduate honors program, Kristen Yarmey, has written a book summarizing nearly 100 years of chemistry at Penn State: Labors and Legacies: The Chemists of Penn State 1855-1947. Everyone who has studied chemistry at Penn State will certainly enjoy learning more about the people behind many of the buildings and traditions associated with the Chemistry Department at University Park. The names of Pugh, Pond, and Whitmore remind us that chemistry has played an important role in Penn State history. In fact, chemistry was one of the first subject areas offered to students at the new agricultural school in 1855. Evan Pugh, the first president, was a prominent agricultural chemist.

Recently, the National Science Board conducted a survey to determine how the average citizen perceives scientists. Twenty-five percent of those questioned agreed with the statement that scientists “are apt to be odd and peculiar people.” Readers of this new history of Penn State’s chemistry program might agree.

How many universities can lay claim to the “grandfather of the pill?” Russell Marker was almost as famous for his eccentricity as for his discovery of a cheap method of progesterone production.

Even non-chemists will find the anecdotes and insights interesting. How many academic departments can boast that one of their former faculty members (like Mary Willard, a forensic scientist who sometimes took her work home) was rumored to have carried a severed head through the streets of State College?

How many departments can fondly recall a Dean called “Swampy?” George Gilbert Pond’s name was a constant source of amusement for his students in the early 1900s. This book is available through interlibrary loan from Penn State’s Pattee Library. It also is available for purchase from the Department of Chemistry. To purchase a copy, complete and mail the order form available for download here.