Oral history interview with Eugene G. Rochow
- 1995-Jan-24
Oral history interview with Eugene G. Rochow
- 1995-Jan-24
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Eugene G. Rochow discusses his family background in Germany, his upbringing in New Jersey, and his early interests in electricity and silicon which led him to pursue degrees in chemistry at Cornell University where he worked as an assistant for Louis M. Dennis and Alfred Stock. Rochow has an extensive career in silicone production, including ethyl phenyl silicone and methyl silicone, and research on nuclear fission as a source of domestic energy but later resigned from this work because of his Quaker beliefs. Rochow also comments on his teaching at Harvard University and his Perkin Medal.
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About the Interviewer
James J. Bohning was professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he had been a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was CHF’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. Bohning passed away in September 2011.
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| Oral history number | 0129 |
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Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Cornell University | BChem | Chemistry |
| 1935 | Cornell University | PhD | Chemistry |
Professional Experience
Halowax Corporation
- 1931 to 1932 Research Chemist
Cornell University
- 1932 to 1935 Assistant Chemist
General Electric Company
- 1935 to 1948 Research Chemist
Harvard University
- 1948 to 1951 Associate Professor
- 1951 to 1970 Professor
- 1970 to 1996 Professor Emeritus
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1948 | Honorary MA, Harvard University |
| 1949 | Baekeland Medal, American Chemical Society |
| 1951 | Myer Award, American Ceramic Society |
| 1958 | Mattiello Award, Federal Paint & Varnish Society |
| 1962 | Perkin Medal, Society of Chemical Industry |
| 1964 | Honor Scroll, American Institute of Chemists |
| 1965 | Frederick Stanley Kipping Award, American Chemical Society |
| 1966 | Honorary DSc, Carolo-Wilhelmina Universität Braunschweig |
| 1968 | Chemical Pioneers Award, American Institute of Chemistry |
| 1970 | Award for Excellence in Teaching, Manufacturing Chemists Association |
| 1971 | Inventor's Award, General Electric Company |
| 1973 | Norris Award for Teaching of Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
| 1983 | Alfred Stock Medal, German Chemical Society |
| 1992 | Honorary Doctorate of Natural Science, Technische Universität, Dresden |
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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.