Oral history interview with Jerome A. Berson
- 2001-Mar-21
Oral history interview with Jerome A. Berson
- 2001-Mar-21
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Jerome Berson begins this interview with a discussion about his family, his early interest in chemistry, and his childhood in Florida. After high school, Berson attended college at City College of New York. He then attended Columbia University, where he received both his A.M. and Ph.D. Berson went on to do postdoctoral work at Harvard University. Berson held various academic positions at the University of Southern California, Wisconsin, and Yale. Berson credits William von Eggers Doering, Robert Burns Woodward, Saul Winstein, and Herbert Brown as all having profound influence on his career. He talks about his transformation from a natural-products chemist to a physical-organic chemist and the influence of the work of Erich Hückel. He discusses in some detail several of his major research efforts, and comments extensively on the importance of M.O. theory, funding, and the role of government in the support of science. Berson concludes the interview with thoughts on the present and future of organic chemistry and physical organic chemistry.
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About the Interviewer
Leon Gortler is a professor of chemistry at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He holds AB and MS degrees from the University of Chicago and a PhD from Harvard University where he worked with Paul Bartlett. He has long been interested in the history of chemistry, in particular the development of physical organic chemistry, and has conducted over fifty oral and videotaped interviews with major American chemists.
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| Oral history number | 0196 |
Related Items
Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | City University of New York. City College | BS | Chemistry |
| 1947 | Columbia University | AM | Chemistry |
| 1949 | Columbia University | PhD | Chemistry |
Professional Experience
United States. Army
- 1944 to 1946
Roche Diagnostics
- 1944
University of Southern California
- 1950 to 1953 Assistant Professor
- 1953 to 1958 Associate Professor
- 1958 to 1963 Professor
University of Wisconsin--Madison
- 1963 to 1969 Professor
Yale University
- 1969 to 1979 Professor
- 1979 to 1992 Irénée du Pont Professor
- 1992 to 1994 Sterling Professor
- 1994 to 2002 Sterling Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Senior Research Scientist
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1949 | National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University (R. B. Woodward) |
| 1963 | Award, American Chemical Society, California Section |
| 1970 | National Academy of Sciences |
| 1971 | American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 1978 | James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
| 1980 | US Senior Scientist Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation |
| 1985 | William H. Nichols Medal, American Chemical Society, New York Section |
| 1987 | Roger Adams Award, American Chemical Society |
| 1992 | Arthur C. Cope Award, American Chemical Society |
| 1998 | Oesper Award, American Chemical Society, Cincinnati Section |
| 2000 | Literature Award, German Chemical Industry Fund |
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Complete transcript of interview
The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.