History of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Timeline

Tenured Faculty           Major Events         1865   Cornell University founded.     G.C. Caldwell J.M. Crafts     1867   Crafts Dept. Chair 1867-1869 Chemistry in Morrill Hall     C.A. Schaeffer     1869     Caldwell Dept. Chair 1869-1902. Chemistry in Wooden Chemistry Building     C.H. Wing     1870           A.A. Breneman     1875               1876     American Chemical Society founded.     S. Newbury     1882               1886     Schaeffer Acting Chair 1886-87     W.R. Orndorff     1890         E.M. Chamot L.M. Dennis     1891         J.E. Trevor     1892           W.D. Bancroft     1895               1896     The Journal of Physical Chemistry established at Cornell.         1902     ACS Cornell Local Section Founded.           1903     Dennis Dept. Chair 1903-1931.     G.W. Cavanaugh     1905           A.W. Browne     1906           L.J. Cross     1912         T.R. Briggs     1915                 1916     Morse Hall burned.     F.H. Rhodes     1920           M.L. Nichols F. Rice     1923     Baker Lab completed.     J. Papish     1925           J.R. Johnson C.W. Mason     1927           A.W. Laubengayer     1928                 1932     Papish Dept. Chair 1932-1939.     J.G. Kirkwood     1935         J.L. Hoard W.T. Miller     1936     Peter J.W. Debye awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contributions to our knowledge of molecular structure through his investigations on dipole moments and on the diffraction of X-rays and electrons in gases".     F.A. Long     1937     School of Chemical Engineering     S.H. Bauer     1939         P.J.W. Debye     1940     Debye Dept. Chair 1940-1950.     A.T. Blomquist     1941             1946     James B. Sumner of the Cornell Department of Nutrition awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discovery that enzymes can be crystallized".     H.A. Scheraga M. Sienko     1947         P. Flory     1948             1950     Long Dept. Chair 1950-1960.     W.D. Cooke     1951         R. Plane J. Meinwald     1952         B. Widom     1954         R.F. Porter     1955     Vincent du Vigneaud awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone".     A.C. Albrecht     1956         C.F. Wilcox D. Geske     1957         M. Goldstein     1959             1960     Scheraga Dept. Chair 1960-67.     G.H. Morrison     1961         R.C. Fay     1962         J.F. Freed     1963         R. Hughes     1964         G. Hammes J.M. Burlitch R. Hoffmann D.A. Usher     1965         H. Muxfeldt M. Fisher     1966             1967     Plane Dept. Chair 1967-70.     F.W. McLafferty E.L. Elson M. Semmelhack     1968             1969     Meinwald Acting Chair 1969.         1970     Hammes Dept. Chair 1970-75.     V. du Vigneaud     1971         J.R. Wiesenfeld     1972         E. Muetterties     1973         B. Ganem     1974     Paul J. Flory awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his fundamental achievements, both theoretical and experimental, in the physical chemistry of the macromolecules".     B.K. Carpenter P.L. Houston     1975     Fisher Dept. Chair 1975-78.     J. Clardy     1978     Widom Dept. Chair 1978-81     B. Baird D. Collum J. McMurry     1980         P. Wolczanski     1981     Roald Hoffmann awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kenichi Fukui "for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions". Hoffmann Dept. Chair 1981-85.     G.S. Ezra     1982         H.D. Abruña     1983             1984     Cooke Acting Chair 1984.         1985     Wiesenfeld Dept. Chair 1985-88.     T.P. Begley F. DiSalvo     1986         J. Frechet R.F. Loring     1987             1988     Clardy Dept. Chair 1988-1993     D. Sogah D. Zax     1990             1993     Ganem Dept. Chair 1993-1997.     H.F. Davis M.A. Hines     1994         G.W. Coates     1997     Houston Dept. Chair 1997-2001.     R.A. Cerione S.E. Ealick S. Lee     1998         J.A. Marohn     1999         B.R. Crane     2000         P.J. Chirik D.T. McQuade     2001     Carpenter Dept. Chair 2001-2004.         2002     ACS Cornell Local Section 100th Anniversary.     G.K.-L. Chan J.T. Njarðarson     2004     Abruña Dept. Chair 2004-present.     P. Chen     2005         H. Lin J. Park     2006