Oral history interview with William S. Knowles
- 2008-Jan-30
Oral history interview with William S. Knowles
- 2008-Jan-30
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.William S. Knowles begins his oral history by discussing his early life during the Great Depression and his education, including time at Harvard University and Columbia University. Knowles spent the majority of his career at Monsanto Company, where he moved from studies of vanillin to research on steroid chemistry and L-Dopa, among other topics. Knowles discusses the many projects he worked on while at Monsanto, his 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the challenges of being an industrial scientist.
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About the Interviewer
Michael A. Grayson is a member of the Mass Spectrometry Research Resource at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his BS degree in physics from St. Louis University in 1963 and his MS in physics from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1965. He is the author of over 45 papers in the scientific literature. Before joining the Research Resource, he was a staff scientist at McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratory. While completing his undergraduate and graduate education, he worked at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, where he learned the art and science of mass spectrometry. Grayson is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), and has served many different positions within that organization. He has served on the Board of Trustees of CHF and is currently a member of CHF's Heritage Council. He currently pursues his interest in the history of mass spectrometry by recording oral histories, assisting in the collection of papers, and researching the early history of the field.
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| Oral history number | 0406 |
Related Items
Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Harvard University | AB | Chemistry |
| 1942 | Columbia University | PhD | Steroids |
Professional Experience
Monsanto Chemical Company
- 1942 to 1944 Chemical Research and Development
- 1944 to 1951 Organic Division
- 1952 to 1966 Group Leader, Scientist, Research Advisor
- 1966 to 1970 Senior Scientist
- 1970 Distinguished Science Fellow
- 1982 to 1986 Agricultural Chemicals Division
Harvard University
- 1951 to 1952 Academic Leave, Total Synthesis of Steroids, R.B. Woodward
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1974 | IR 100 Award, Asymmetric Hydrogenation Process |
| 1978 | St. Louis American Chemical Society Section Award |
| 1981 | Monsanto Thomas and Hochwalt Award |
| 1982 | American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention |
| 1996 | The Organic Reactions Catalysis Society Paul N. Rylander Award |
| 2001 | Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
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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.