Lauby’s Cornell Chemical Recollections

March 1971

“UNCLE BILLY ORNDORFF”

The earliest days of chemistry at Cornell were dominated by George Caldwell, the first professor to be appointed to the Cornell faculty and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry for thirty-four years. With the help of a series of colleagues who remained for too limited periods to have a serious influence, Professor Caldwell incorporated instruction in general chemistry, analytical chemistry, and agricultural chemistry in the late 1800’s and with the expansion of good facilities on the campus, Caldwell recruited a group of very able young men, Dennis, Orndorff, Bancroft, Chamot, and Cavanaugh, who were to promote chemistry at Cornell to nation-wide and world-wide eminence.

[Picture: Orndorff]

William Ridgely Orndorff was responsible for getting the then newly developing field of organic chemistry established. Born in Baltimore in 1862, he was educated at Johns Hopkins, B.A. ’84, Ph.D. ’87, where he was one of Ira Remsen’s prize students. At later intervals he took leaves from Cornell to study in Germany at the Universities of Greifswald, Berlin, Heidelberg and Munich with Emil Fischer, van’t Hoff, Salkowski, Curtius, Gatterman, Baeyer and Carl Hoffman.

Following Remsen’s footsteps, Orndorff became a great teacher and investigator at Cornell. Remsen picked Orndorff to collaborate in the revision of the widely used early text on Organic Chemistry. Orndorff came to Cornell in 1887 as Instructor in General and Organic Chemistry, and became Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1890. In 1900 his title was changed to Assistant Professor of Organic and Physiological Chemistry, reflecting the growing needs for medical instruction. He was promoted to Professor of Organic and Physiological Chemistry in 1903, and later the Physiological term was dropped from his title.

A rather reserved person who did not make close friends easily, Orndorff was a tremendous worker, wholly devoted to his teaching and research, and with apparently few other interests. Accordingly, it is more difficult to unearth revealing incidents and anecdotes to reach a true appreciation of him. Those who studied or worked closely with him had a deep respect for his ability and found in this quiet man an innate friendliness and a deep loyalty to the Chemistry Department and to Cornell. Somewhere along the line students started to refer to him as “Uncle Billy”, but never to his face.

As a sophomore in 1918 I attended Uncle Billy’s introductory organic chemistry lectures. I remember him as a stooped, medium sized man, balding, and with a handlebar mustache. Organic chemistry in those days was still in the descriptive stage, with emphasis on synthesis and classification. While the lectures were largely a dry recital of facts and classification, Uncle Billy occasionally would enliven them with stories of Fischer, Baeyer and other greats of organic chemistry. His story of metabolism in the cow, with carbon appearing as CO₂ at one end and the other end as CH₄ was remembered by even the most somnolent students.

In 1918 all we male students had enlisted in the Army’s Student Training Corps and were housed in fraternity barracks under the arrogant disciple of “shave-tail lieutenants” fresh from quickie training as “sixty-day wonders”. Theoretically, half of our time was reserved for academic work. Practically, the Army constantly found many ways of commandeering some of our academic time, and Uncle Billy would fulminate in lectures about this stupidity.

In the dusty file of the “Cornell Chemist”, published from 1911-26, I find that, in spite of his quiet ways, Uncle Billy in his younger days was in demand to contribute to the hilarity which characterized the frequent Chemistry get-togethers and dinners attended by students and faculty. His most celebrated stunt was a presentation of three humorous pseudo-scientific papers, illustrated by suitable slides.

1) “On the Relationship Between Chemical Composition and Crystal Form”, by A. Thorough Tinker and Miss Mol E. Cule.

This explained the difference between paraldehyde and metaldehyde by use of the “sausage” formula, capable of bending in the middle.

2) “Molecular Weights of Liquids Using a New Chemical Constant”.

This detailed a new method for determining molecular weights of such popular liquids as Schlitz, Wurtzburger, and Mumm’s Extra Dry by observing the relative speeds of absorption by filter paper (sounds like he had paper chromatography well developed).

3) “The Structure of the Benzene Monkeycule”, by Chim Panzie.

Here it was shown how six monkeys may form a ring like the benzene ring, the hands, feet and tails of the beasts acting as valences.

(Whirlwinds of applause.)

During his later years Professor Orndorff’s health declined and his teaching and research suffered. Because of his knowledge of physiological chemistry and his contact with medical matters, he became increasingly suspicious of medical and dental practices and refused to submit to medical care. His hearing became impaired, dental infections took their toll, and he retired more and more into himself. His lecture in Advanced Organic Chemistry involved reading verbatim from Bernsthen’s voluminous “Organic Chemistry” chapters already assigned for student study, with the terrifying and constant possibility of an unannounced prelim any Thursday.

At his best, Uncle Billy was reputed an able teacher and a fine investigator. His research on phthaleins was highly regarded and the application of this work in the Todd Protectograph for bank checks is memorialized by the endowment by Walter Todd of the Todd Professorship of Chemistry. Although Orndorff was not as colorful or as extroverted as some of his contemporaries in the Department, he played an important role in getting organic chemistry established at Cornell.