|
| 1869 | The University comes into existence, and the organization begins
for classes to start in September 1871. |
|
| 1871 | Classes begin when the University opens officially on the first
Thursday of September. 70 students attend that first semester. S. Aughey is the
professor of Natural Science, one of only five faculty members. Chemistry and the
sciences occupy rooms 103 and 104 in the Old Main (the only building). The 1895
"Sombrero" described the early program as such: "[In the 1870s,] science was as
yet but little appreciated in its exactions or its importance. At one time the
number of workers in this field had risen to three, but fell again through various
exigencies to a single instructer, whose time was obligingly divided between
pronouncing upon prospects of lignite or oil, assaying worthless ores, analyzing
soils, soothing syrups, old Bourbon, stomachs of poisoned horses, -- and
conducting recitations. The State had surely during these years one servant who
lived up to the full measure of his opportunities. Nothing in the history of the
University is more amusing than the records of the "department" of chemistry and
Natural Sciences during this curious interregnum."—"The Sombrero", 1895 |
|
| 1872 | In June, the Agricultural College is established under S.R.
Thompson. It expands and earns the nickname "The Farm". Its initial duty, as
charged by the Board of Regents, is to plant trees and arrange walks on campus.
The University holds commencement even though there are no graduates. |
|
| 1873 | Harvey Culbertson earns his Bachelors of Agriculture. |
|
| 1874 | G.E. Bailey becomes a professor of Physics and Chemistry, as well
as Secretary of Faculty to the Department of Literature, Science &
Art. |
|
| 1875 | The school gains state recognition and an elective regency. |
|
| 1877 | Hiram Collier is hired as Professor of Astronomy, Chemistry,
Mechanics, Meteorology & Physics. |
|
| 1878 | An "Engineering Course" is added to the science department
offerings. The Department submits a request for a Dictionary of Chemistry. Bailey
organizes the "Nebraska Volunteer Weather Service". |
|
| 1880 | The Chair of Chemistry and Physics is briefly vacant as Hiram
Collier is out with a severe illness. C. N. Little teaches Analytical Chemistry
and Math. |
|
| 1881 | Alonzo Collins becomes a Professor of Chemistry and Physics when
Collier dies. |
|
| 1882 | Collins resigns in the Spring and returns to Cornell College.
Hudson Henry Nicholson becomes a member of the UNL faculty and in July is named
Professor of Chemistry and Physics. He is one of six new faculty in the second
expansion under President Gere. Nicholson is a good investment as he brings his
own equipment for the department to use, as well as an extensive personal library.
He also pushes much harder for additional space and equipment. There are three
chemistry students in the fall term, and the total attendance for the University
is 284. |
|
| 1883 | LFM Easterday is appointed to teach Physics and Astronomy. The
University issues $25,000 for the construction and equipment of a new Chemistry
lab. The old chemistry lab becomes the Post Office for the University. The medical
school opens, resulting in the immediate rise in Chemistry enrollment. |
|
| 1884 | Two students graduate in Literature, Science & Art
chemistry, and there are ten seniors, five juniors, ten sophomores and twenty-two
freshmen. The industrial college has eight seniors, four sophomores and six
freshmen. Henry Hudson Nicholson becomes a United States Weather Observer. The
Agricultural College is focused on testing crops, soil, harvesting and seeding.
The Station analyzed different possibilities for crops: cotton turned too low a
profit compared to wheat and corn; planting cow peas after the wheat harvest,
before planting, added nitrates to the soil and made it more fertile. |
|
| 1885 | Ground is broken for the chemistry building in April. The building
is completed and occupied by December. |
|
| 1886 | George Borrowman Frankforter is hired as an instructor of Science
and Music as he works toward his Master of Arts. The entire faculty calls for an
associate chemistry professor to supplement the department. |
|
| 1887 | Rachel Abbie Holloway Lloyd is appointed to the Chemistry
Department as an associate professor. Nicholson had met Lloyd at the Harvard
summer Chemistry course, and she completed her doctorate at the University of
Zurich (at the time, the only school offering doctorate degrees in Chemistry to
women) in 1886; she is the first American woman chemist holding a doctoral degree.
De Witt Brace replaces John White. |
|
| 1888 | The Physics & Chemistry departments separate. Lloyd is
promoted to full professor. Chancellor Manatt does not renew Lloyd's contract
because he does not approve of her religious stance as a Quaker, and calls her "an
infidel"; however, under unanimous approval of the faculty, she is reinstated.
Manatt is dismissed for this and seven other incidents involving other staff.
Nicholson and Lloyd found the first Sugar School in the United States to study
sugar beets. The school studies the history of growing beets for sugar; the
selection and preparation of soil; seed tests for the selection of seeds, to
examine the germination of seeds, and the methods, timing and implements for
planting, cultivating and reducing; the different methods used to preserve beets
or the sugar from beets; and the yields from different varieties of beets. |
|
| 1889 | H. Elton Fulmer earns his Master of Arts at Nebraska University and
becomes a permanent instructor. |
|
| 1890 | The success of the Sugar School at the Farm creates a rush on
demands for funding of apparatus around the state. The University reaches the
country with journals and the farmers with fairs and pamphlets. |
|
| 1892 | The Experiment Station is invited to prepare an exhibit for the
1893 World Fair. The exhibit at the State Fair in Lincoln and the Agricultural
College are open to visitors, and displayed apparati with explanations. In
September, Nicholson resigns as Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station,
and the position is filled by C.L. Ingersoll. There are, as yet, only three
colleges: the Academic, Industrial, and Law schools. Rosa Bouton, one of the
graduate students, publishes a bulletin on the "Convenient Kitchen." Abel E.
Wagner and Clarence E. Fletcher are the other two graduate students. University
attendance is 912. Samuel Avery earns his Bachelor of Science and begins his
Masters work. Rachel Lloyd becomes the first woman to publish an organic paper in
the American Chemical Journal. |
|
| 1893 | John White is hired as Professor of Analytical Chemistry. The
Agricultural Department plans a Dairy School to open in 1896. Nicholson also
outlines a Pharmacy School. By graduating with her Masters, Rosa Bouton becomes
the first woman to earn a graduate degree west of the Mississippi. Rachel Lloyd
resigns because of ill health, brought on by overwork; she originally planned to
stay on only until January 1, but agreed to stay on until the end of May.
Nicholson, as always trying to prove the worth of the department, tests air in all
the classrooms on campus for carbon dioxide levels to discover which areas have
poor ventilation. Nevertheless, the budget was cut from $2000 to $1500. T.L. Lyon
is on leave, G.B. Frankforter serves as a temporary substitute, and Bouton and
Senter serve as lab assistants. Frankforter is also offered the Chair of
Analytical Chemistry, but he decides to work at University of Minnesota. His
absence discontinues the instruction in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Rosa Bouton
founds the Domestic Chemistry Department, although she stays in the Chemistry
building and program. The department has three fellows. Avery earns his Masters,
and, inspired by Lloyd, begins to save for doctoral work. |
|
| 1894 | John White is asked to continue his formerly temporary position.
Robert Silver Hiltner is hired as an assistant chemist at the Agricultural
Station. |
|
| 1895 | The Chemistry department is influential in organizing the local
chapter of the American Chemical Society, the first west of the Mississippi.
Nicholson is the president, John White the Secretary/Treasurer, and papers are
presented by T.L. Lyon and Samuel Avery. T.L. Lyon becoms Head of the Experiment
Station after C.L. Ingersoll resigns. White is asked to continue again. Cl.Y.
Smith, under Ingersoll, is recommended for Executive Clerk. Chemical assistants
include Bouton, H.A. Senter, F.F. Tucker, and Emma Boose. |
|
| 1896 | A new Creamery Plant opens for the Agricultural Station. The
Preparatory School for high schoolers adds chemistry courses. The School of
Agriculture opens with fifteen students. The University holds winter commencement
for the first time. Avery earns his PhD at the University of Heidelberg, and
becomes an adjunct professor of Chemistry at NU. |
|
| 1897 | The NU Chapter of Sigma Xi National Honorary Science Society in
Arts & Sciences is founded. (It was originally established in 1886 at
Cornell.) Mary Louise Fossler and Edward Charles Elliot are fellows. |
|
| 1898 | The School of Domestic Science comes from the School of Mechanic
Arts, opened by Bouton after a summer course in Boston, with classes for women
more than sixteen years old, although it is not technically college credit. The
Domestic Science program exchanges cooked food for raw with the YWCA. R.W.
Thatcher, a senior student, gives lectures at the Agricultural School. The Sugar
School is well-noted in journals worldwide. Students unable to pay for lab
deposits are allowed to work them off for 12.5 cents/hour. |
|
| 1899 | Mariel C. Gere, Benton Dales and Howard C. Parmallee are
recommended for fellowships at $300 each, but Parmalee resigns from the fellowship
in December. Avery resigns from the department to become a full Professor and
Agricultural chemist at Iowa University. The Domestic Science Program completes
its separation from the Chemistry department and sets up an extension course. Ada
M. Quaintance becomes the Storekeeper. A new tax bill raises additional funds for
the University. |
|
| 1900 | Nicholson goes on leave and John White is in charge. Mary Louise
Fossler becomes an instructor. A night time fire in the room next to the flammable
chemicals (chloroform, alcohol, ether, benzene, etc.) prompts the construction of
a separate chemical storage building. The School of Agriculture has sixty-one
students. Davisson is the Director of the Agricultural School. |
|
| 1901 | John White goes on a leave of Absence during the spring. Samuel
Avery is appointed as Professor of Analytical and Organic Chemistry, although most
of his time is spent at the Farm. The Chemistry Department requests and receives
its own telephone. J.M. Nelson serves as an instructor for one year. |
|
| 1902 | University attendance is 2289. The increased focus on industry
causes a rise in Agriculture enrollment, but a decline in Arts & Sciences.
Avery devotes additional time to the Farm to balance it. |
|
| 1903 | By this time, the Chemistry Department has twelve assistants, most
of whom are graduate students. Hiltner, an instructor, resigns and is replaced by
ALbert Jacobson. John White resigns in August. |
|
| 1904 | The entirety of the building is remodelled. The construction of a
new laboratory is behind schedule, and so the fall laboratory and advanced classes
are cancelled. Nicholson is on leave. The Domestic Science program is renamed Home
Economics. |
|
| 1905 | The laboratory is still not finished for spring, so classes are
cancelled and Nicholson is on leave for another semester while he works for a
mining company. He gives his salary to pay for assistants. Jacobson, the technical
chemistry instructor, resigns in August. E.A. Burnett is head of the Agricultural
Station, and the station is reorganized to include a Chemistry department. Adaline
Quaintance resigns as the lab storekeeper. Nicholson also resigns, and Avery
becomes the Chair of the Department. There are thirty-five distinct courses with
five hundred students taking Chemistry. |
|
| 1906 | A separate Home Economics course of study is established. Dr. Frank
J. Alway is secured as a professor of Agricultural Chemistry in June. Assistant
Professor Shaw resigns, and T.L. Lyon resigns to take the Chair at Cornell
University. The medical students share the new chemistry laboratory. Benton Dales
becomes an assistant professor. The University holds summer commencement for the
first time. |
|
| 1907 | The University of Nebraska's attempts to connect with the state
include offers to analyze soils, liquids, agricultural products, and so forth, for
a small fee. Many ask about gold in their soil, poison in their water, fertilizers
and weed killers. |
|
| 1908 | Dales is promoted to full professorship of Analytical Chemistry.
The department is forced to stop registration for lack of adequate space. Mildred
Parks is hired as an instructor and an assistant. Avery is appointed as Acting
Chancellor. A Teachers' College is established. |
|
| 1909 | F.J. Alway goes to the Industrial College of Agriculture. The Farm
buildings are used by the Home Economics Department. Nicholson leaves the
University officially. President Allen of the Board of Regents requests Avery stay
on as Chancellor: "You have been hobnobbing with the members of the Legislature
all winter and are spoiled. You are no longer fit to be anything but Chancellor."
Dales replaces Avery as Chair. |
|
| 1910 | G. Borrowman becomes an adjunct professor. He helps to establish a
Dental College. Mary Louise Fossler helps with the College of Medicine. R.S.
Trumball starts in Agricultural Chemistry. Alway, like Avery before him, is in
force on bothe the agricultural and central campuses. |
|
| 1911 | Oscar Leonard Barneby is an instructor, as is Irving Samuel Cutter,
an M.D. Mary Louise Fossler becomes an adjunct professor. The faculty of the
University includes 333 officers of instruction, and 147 administrative staff.
John Willard Calvin and Clarence Jackson Frankforter become assistant professors
of Chemistry. Harley Martin Plum is hired as an associate professor of
Agricultural Chemistry. |
|
| 1912 | In 1912, Dales, the only full professor, earns $2,300. Borrowman,
the longest-serving assistant professor, earns $1,400. Fossler is next at $1,200.
Frankforter, Cutter, Graham, and Wilson all earn only $1,000. Scholars, fellows
and assistants earn even less. |
|
| 1913 | Fred W. Upson is appointed as Professor of Agricultural Chemistry
and Engineering. The University receives a special levy from the legislature for
the construction of a chemistry plant. The cost is approximately $250,000 for four
stories of labs and classrooms, with a fireproofed floor for storage and technical
chemistry. Dr. Alway leaves the Farm. Bouton resigns from the University to open a
pie shop in California. |
|
| 1915 | Mary Louise Fossler helps to found the Department of Pharmacy.
Theos J. Thompson earns his Masters and serves as an instructor and assistant as
he begins his doctoral work. |
|
| 1916 | Construction of Avery Laboratory begins in June. The building is
considered one of the best and most modern in the Midwest. |
|
| 1918 | America becomes involved in the first World War. Avery himself
becomes a Chemical advisor to the government while Dean Hastings acts as
Chancellor. Upson becomes the head of the newly combined department of Chemistry
and Agricultural Chemistry, which includes twenty-five staff for instruction and
research. Howard Groves Deming is appointed as a Physical chemist. The chemical
industry expands exponentially because the war cuts off German industrial
supplies. The schools and universities are unable to compete in terms of salaries.
Dr. Dales leaves for B.F. Goodrich Company; Dr. Borrowman leaves for Niagara
Alkali Company; Plum leaves for Standard Chemical Company of Pittsburg; Eastlack
for Dupont Chemical; Thompson for Coleman DuPont; and Lewis for Rutgers and then
Raessler & Hasslacker Chemical Company. All receive at least a twenty-five
per cent hike in salary. Denton J. Brown joins the faculty of analytic chemistry
and Hendricks trains for a higher position. |
|
| 1919 | Avery Lab is dedicated May 23. Statistics of the universities of
the country show that a larger number of students complete the work for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry than in any other science. The Department
continues its research on chemical warfare from World War I; it will continue
through 1946. |
|
| 1920 | An American Chemical Society section is established in Omaha.
Roscoe C. Abbott joins the faculty. D.H. Rasmussen becomes the Curator of the
department. |
|
| 1922 | The Chemistry Department gives the first degree in Chemical
Engineering. Morris Joslin Blish becomes Chair of the Agricultural Chemistry
Department. |
|
| 1923 | H.G. Deming publishes "Elementary Chemistry." Cliff Struthers
Hamilton is hired as an assistant professor. Bernard Hendricks earns his PhD and
stays at Nebraska as an assistant professor. |
|
| 1927 | C.S. Hamilton leaves for Northwestern. H. Armin Pagel earns his PhD
at University of Minnesota and becomes an instructor at Nebraska. T.J. Thompson
becomes the Dean of Student Affairs. Avery steps down from the Chancellorship due
to ill health (hypertension and impending heart failure) and returns to the
Chemistry deparment as a professor of research. He was and is the longest-reigning
Chancellor in Nebraska University history. Avery is also elected president of the
National Association of Universities, and awarded the Kiwanis Medal for
Distinguished service. Upson said in 1930, as soon as Avery returned, "it was as
if he simply had returned to the laboratory after a short vacation. In no time at
all steam baths were bubbling, filter pumps were pumping, distilling apparatus was
distilling, and Dr. Avery was making new compounds." |
|
| 1929 | C.S. Hamilton returns as a full professor. |
|
| 1932 | E.R. Washburn becomes an Abstractor for the Journal of Chemistry
Education. |
|
| 1936 | Walter E. Militzer joins the staff. Avery retires from his position
as Professor of Research. |
|
| 1937 | The Department is renamed the Department of Chemistry &
Chemical Engineering. |
|
| 1938 | W.E. Militzer publishes a method to dramatically simplify
measurements of iron in blood with Rosalie Breuer. The department has six
fellowships for graduate students. Hamilton begins to send Christmas letters to
all his "nieces and nephews". Upson has a heart attack. There has been a five fold
increase in graduate registations since 1918, for a total of fifty-six PhDs and
162 Masters students. C.S. Hamilton becomes Dean of the Graduate College for one
year. E.R. Washburn becomes a Reviewed for the Journal of Chemistry
Education. |
|
| 1939 | Norman H. Cromwell joins the staff as an instructor. C.S. Hamilton
becomes the Chair when Upson retires for health reasons. Militzer becomes
president of Nebraska ACS. |
|
| 1940 | C.S. Hamilton is again Dean of the Graduate College for one year.
The United states is looking for chemists to fill the gaps left by wartime
tension, and in preparation for the inevitable as the second World War begins in
earnest in Europe. |
|
| 1941 | E.R. Washburn becomes a full professor, as does B.C. Hendricks.
N.H. Cromwell becomes an assistant professor, and H.A. Pagel becomes an associate
professor. The university is very involved with teaching soldiers, and the
Chemistry Department focuses on chemical warfare. |
|
| 1942 | Donald Cram, future Nobel prize winner, earns his masters at UNL.
One graduate student is drafted, while others are able to use their research and
current studies as a reason to stay stateside. |
|
| 1943 | Colonel Frankforter is called to service in the Federal Bureau of
Investigation military. The newly constructed Love Library becomes a
barracks. |
|
| 1944 | C.S. Hamilton is Nominated for Midwest Award for the American
Chemical Society for the first time. He will be nominated by twenty-two different
people in 1945, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954 before winning in 1955. Most of
the soldiers are now off campus. Ed Boschult dies in November near Aachen. Pauline
Nutter Doryland joins the faculty as an assistant professor. |
|
| 1945 | Captain Eldon Frank dies in China, and ensign Donald White dies off
Okinawa. N.H. Cromwell becomes an associate professor. W.E. Militzer becomes an
associate professor. Frankforter returns. Plans are drawn for an addition to Avery
Hall. The NDRC contract is closed on 31 December. |
|
| 1946 | Military research at UNL for chemical warfare is discontinued.
Washburn has an appendectomy during summer sessions. |
|
| 1947 | Henry Holtzclaw joins the UNL faculty. H.G. Deming is on leave as a
visiting professor at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Royce H. LeRoy joins the
staff, but only stays one year. |
|
| 1948 | N.H. Cromwell becomes a full professor, as do W.E. Militzer and
H.A. Pagel. Henry E. Baumgarten joins the faculty as an instructor. Roland E.
Florin from the University of Illinois joins as a physical chemist, and James H.
Weber joins Chemical Engineering. The department occupies the new wing of
Avery. |
|
| 1949 | Cecil E. Vanderzee joins the faculty as an instructor. |
|
| 1950 | H.G. Deming retires, and teaches at the University of Hawaii until
1952. Brown and D.H. Rasmussen also retire. Dr. James H. Looker joins the faculty
in a temporary position. |
|
| 1951 | B.C. Hendricks retires. J.H. Looker's position becomes permanent,
and Robert H. Harris joins the faculty. The department requests an infrared
spectrometer. C.E. Vanderzee becomes an assistant professor. |
|
| 1952 | W.E. Militzer becomes Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,
succeeding Oldfather, but he continues research on bacteria with Carl E. Georgi,
of the biology department. H.E Baumgarten becomes an assistant professor. The
department purchases an electron microscope. |
|
| 1953 | C.E. Vanderzee becomes President of the ACS section. Robert
Johnston joins the faculty as an assistant professor. The department invites the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers to accredit the program. |
|
| 1954 | H.E. Baumgarten becomes an associate professor, as does C.E.
Vanderzee. Frankforter and Abbott both retire. E. Richard Nightingale and Jay
Taylor join the faculty. T.J. Thompson becomes the acting Chairman of the
Sociology Department, as well as assistant Director of Research at the Graduate
College. |
|
| 1955 | E.R. Washburn becomes Chairman of the Department. C.S. Hamilton
receives the Midwest Award for the American Chemical Society. John R. Demuth
arrives as an instructor from the University of Illinois. J.H. Looker becomes an
associate professor. Gordon A. Gallup joins the staff as an instructor. |
|
| 1956 | Undergraduate enrollment spikes to 1455 freshmen, and the
department puts in an emergency request for graduate assistant money. The
University also allocates funds for a Glass Fabrication Lab. G.A. Gallup becomes
an assistant professor. |
|
| 1957 | C.S. Hamilton retires. The department has sixty graduate students.
J.R. Demuth becomes an assistant professor. John J. Scholz joins the faculty as an
assistant professor. J.R. Mattoon joins the faculty as an instructor in chemistry
and chemical engineering, and Richard Earle Gilbert as an asssistant professor in
chemistry and chemical engineering. R.B. Johnston becomes an associate
professor. |
|
| 1958 | H.E. Baumgarten becomes a full professor, as does C.E. Vanderzee.
Pharmacy Hall (the original chemistry building) is torn down to begin construction
on the Sheldon Gallery. Cromwell receieves a second Guggenheim Fellowship. The
Chemical Engineering Department separates from the Chemistry Department, and
purchases the Elgin building, which it renames "Nebraska Hall." Avery is repainted
and the floors are all replaced. The department has more than seventy graduate
students. Desmond Michael Sherlock Wheeler is a visiting assistant professor while
Cromwell is away; his wife Margaret is a visiting Research Assistant. Weber
becomes the chair of the new College of Engineering. |
|
| 1959 | There is a small fire in Avery 11. John H. Pazur joins the
staff. |
|
| 1960 | N.H. Cromwell becomes a Regents Professor of Chemistry. Alvin S.
Quist joins the staff for one year. Jay Taylor leaves for Kentucky State
University. R.B. Johnston is awarded a Public Health Service Research Fellowship,
but postpones because Nightingale also resigns to leave academia. J.H. Looker
becomes a full professor. G.A. Gallup becomes an associate professor. |
|
| 1961 | D.M.S. Wheeler returns. Robert Larson joins the staff. J.R. Demuth
establishes and serves as an advisor to an ACS Student Affiliate Chapter. R.B.
Johnston takes a one-year sabbatical for his fellowship. |
|
| 1962 | Baumgarten and Mattoon are on leave. James W. Curry is on staff for
one year. James McMehan is an assistant to Dr. Looker, who is serving as an
instructor while he finishes his PhD. Edward Rack joins the faculty as an
assistant professor in radiochemistry. The department has eighty-three graduate
students. On January 9, E.R. Washburn presents "A History of the Chemistry
Department of Nebraska University" on KUON, a live television broadcast, as part
of the "Campus Closeups". |
|
| 1963 | James McMehan serves as an instructor while he finishes his PhD.
D.M.S. Wheeler becomes an associate professor. J.J. Scholz becomes an associate
professor. C.E. Vanderzee is Acting Chair. |
|
| 1964 | E.R. Washburn retires from the Chair after several heart attacks,
and only teaches. N.H. Cromwell becomes the new Chair. H.E. Baumgarten becomes an
NU Foundation Professor. Even with the expansion, the Chemistry department is
short on staff and space. J.R. Demuth becomes an associate professor, as does R.H.
Harris. |
|
| 1965 | Vanderzee is appointed to Associate Chair of the Department. The
department requess an electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer. The Chemistry
department is recognized by the American Council on Education. Rudolph M.
Sandstedt retires from Agricultural Chemistry. Christopher J. Michejda joins the
staff as an assistant professor. Bryant Harrell is a professor in the Nebraska
Group for Ezunum Turkey. R.B. Johnston becomes a full professor. Nando K.
Chatterjee is a research associate. |
|
| 1966 | In January, a grant for a new building is given under the Higher
Education Facilities Act of 1963. James D. Carr joins the faculty as an assistant
professor, as do Walter H. Bruning, George D. Sturgeon, Robert F. Broman, Robert
S. Marianelli and George A. Vivader. Mohan L. Maheshwari is a Research Associate.
D.M.S. Wheeler becomes a full professor, as does G.A. Gallup. |
|
| 1967 | E.R. Washburn retires from teaching. H.F. Holtzclaw is named
Regents Foundation Professor of Chemistry. W.E. Militzer is on research leave for
one year. In May, the NSF awards the department for development: $530,000 for
personnel for improvement in quality and effectiveness of staff, as well as
$300,000 for equipment and supplies. Amel L. Bresson is a chemical advizor for
Ezurum, Turkey. Robert J. Buenker, Charles L. Wilkins, Charles A. Kingsbury, and
Craig J. Eckhardt join the faculty as assistant professors. Harold D. Coble
becomes an an instructor. C.E. Vanderzee teaches at the University Lund. in Sweden
for one year. Chancellor Clifford is appointed to the Board of the National
Science Foundation. |
|
| 1968 | Thomas Adrian George, Michael L. Gross, and Lawrence J. Parkhurst
all join the faculty as assistant professors, and Sigrid D. Reyerimoff is a
visiting research professor. W. Bruning becomes the assistant dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences. J.J. Scholz becomes a full professor. C.A. Kingsbury becomes
an associate professor. |
|
| 1969 | The department is more or less abandoned by the National Science
Foundation. T.J. Hirt teaches a course about gas phase kinetics. G.D. Sturgeon is
Chair of ACS, C.J. Michejda is Vice Chair, with Carr, Holtzclaw, Baumgarten,
Looker, Wheeler and Lewis Harris serving as officers. The department receives a
$5000 Eastman Kodak Research Grant. Michejda is on leave in Poland for November
and December. P.N. Doryland receives an Outstanding Professor Award. C.J. Michejda
receives an Outstanding Professorship Award from the Agricultural Executive Board
and is promoted to associate professor, as is G.D. Sturgeon. |
|
| 1970 | N.H. Cromwell becomes the Executive Dean of the Graduate College.
The new Hamilton Hall is dedicated on October 27, with the four bottom floors
meant for classes and the top four floors meant for research. The Chemistry
department is again recognized by the American Council on Education. R. Buenker is
on leave to work in Germany, because he feels that UNL has low salaries, low
resource stability and low support for research. John N. Murrell is a visiting
professor. R.J. Buenker becomes an associate professor. H.E. Baumgarten is acting
Chain. M.M. Wheeler serves as a research associate. R.F. Broman becomes an
associate professor. H.F. Holtzclaw is the head of a committe to investigate
Political Science professor Stephen Rozman. Rozman led an occupation of the
Military & Naval building Selective Service Office and insulted President
Soshink. Holztclaw found Roman Not Guilty, however the university still dismissed
Rozman. The dismissal gave rise to a movement for new university bylaws for due
process. |
|
| 1971 | H.E. Baumgarten is the Chair of the department and R. Larson is the
Vice Chair. David J. Thoenes is a research associate. E. Rack becomes a full
professor. J.D. Carr becomes an associate professor, as does R.S.
Marianelli. |
|
| 1972 | N.H. Cromwell becomes the Vice President of Graduate Studies.
Victory W. Day joins the faculty as an assistant professor. C.L. Wilkins, C.J.
Eckhard, M.L. Gross and T.A. George become associate professors. N.K. Gupta and
C.A. Kingsbury become full professors. R.F. Broman is on leave for one year.
Denise Anne George is a visiting assistant professor, and Roberta A. Ogilvie is a
part-time visiting assistant professor. |
|
| 1973 | N.H. Cromwell becomes Regents Professor. David Brooks joins the
faculty to teach general chemistry and honors chemistry as a professor and
Freshman Chemistry Coordinator. R.J. Buenker becomes a full professor, as does
G.A. Vivader. J.J. Scholz becomes the Director of Undergraduate Studies Program.
L.J. Parkhurst becomes an associate professor. |
|
| 1974 | W.E. Militzer retires. J.R. Demuth becomes a full professor. |
|
| 1975 | Georgi and Militzer establish a lectureship series. G.G. Miesel
joins the staff as a professor and the Chair of the Department. Holtzclaw and
Looker host the first Mid-America College Chemistry Department Chairpersons
Conference. V. Day receieves a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Grant for $35,000. R.J.
Buenker leaves. The Department initiates the E.R. Washburn memorial lecture
series. |
|
| 1976 | H.F. Holtzclaw becomes Dean of Graduate Studies. A mass
spectrometer is installed in Hamilton (a Kratos MS-50 double-focusing) with grants
from the National Science Foundation for Wilkins and Gross. Dr. Brooks first
publishes PROJECT TEACH as a supplemental tool to train teaching assistants. He
also wins the Associated Students of the University of Nebraska Builder's Award.
Along with the NSF, INCOS and AEI Scientific, UNL hosts "Chemical Applications of
High Performance Mass Spectroscopy" in November. V. Day receives a Fling Faculty
Research Fellowship for the summer. C.E. Vanderzee receives an NSF grant. |
|
| 1977 | The Chemistry department has 108 graduate students. Dr. Brooks wins
the Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award. The department and the university use
computers to a much greater extent, and so the department uses additional funds
for buying time and eventually its own computers. Sheldon M. Shuster joins the
faculty as an assistant professor. |
|
| 1978 | The University establishes the Midwest Center for Mass
Spectroscopy, with the new Kratos, a rebuilt Hitachi RMU-60 reverse geometry and a
nearly operational Fourier transformer. Reuben Rieke, Jr. and Nicholas Nogar join
the faculty as assistant professors and Stuart Staley joins as a full professor.
Brooks and Donal McCurdy win the NSTA Gustav Dhaus Award for Innovation in College
Science Teaching. The graduate program receives a Regional Center Award. Brooks
becomes the General Chemistry Coordinator. |
|
| 1979 | N.H. Cromwell becomes the Director of the Eppley Institute of the
University of Nebraska Medical Center and saves the program. The department buys
an electron paramagnetic spectrometer. The bomb squad is called in when a
refrigerated room breaks down and the repairmen does not arrive until late in the
day, and is unable to fix the problem quickly. Doctors Day request a contract to
use the department's equipment for a crystallitics company. C.J. Eckhardt receives
a Guggenheim Fellowship for Cambridge. Raymond L. Funk joins the faculty as an
assistant professor. C.E. Vanderzee retires. |
|
| 1980 | During the 1980s, the department obtains a three-sector Kratos
MS-50, a Kratos MS-80, and builds another Fourier transformer. Brooks receives the
Chemical Manufacturers' Association Catalyst Award. |
|
| 1981 | N.H. Cromwell steps down at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center and returns as professor of chemistry. Marjorie A. Langell joins the
faculty. The department loses three faculty members and is allowed to hire one per
year for the next three years, although there is somewhat of a hiring freeze in
place. J.D. Carr wins receives the UNL Distinguished Teacher Award. |
|
| 1982 | UNL becomes one of the first universities to try fast atom
bombardment with mass spectrometers. The university defers a minicomputer for the
chemistry department. The biotechnology program begins. The entire university
suffers a permanent three per cent budget cut. Brooks is a CASE Professor of the
Year Finalist. |
|
| 1983 | Thomas M. Apple joins the faculty. The 50th Anniversary of Harris
Laboratories, a Lincoln-based compnay, leads to the establishment of the Lewis
Harris Distinguished Lectureship, the sixth named lectureship for the department
(after the Reuben Gustavson, Cliff Struthers Hamilton, ISCO for the Biomedical
Institute, Georgi-Militzer and E.R. Washburn lecture series). Fast atom
bombardment with mass spectrometers leads to charge-remote fragmentation of
peptiedes, nucleosides and nucleotides. The department is the first to demonstrate
methods for gas chromotography-mass spectrometry, pulsed-valve GC/MS, laser
desorption of MS, and GC/multiphoton ionization MS. J.D. Carr becomes the
Coordinator of General Chemistry. Student Leon Sanders sues V. Day for
"disorganized teaching." |
|
| 1984 | N.H. Cromwell retires, and also receives the Midwest ACS Award. The
department commissions a four-sector tandem MS with an integrating second stage.
R.L. Funk becomes an associate professor. |
|
| 1985 | H.F. Holtzclaw is interim chairman for one year. Funk receives
$25,000 for a Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. |
|
| 1986 | E. Rack receives the UNL Distinguished Teaching Award. |
|
| 1987 | Former graduate student Donald Cram is co-winner of the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry. J.D. Carr teaches Corpnet Summer classes via television. Gregory
Paine joins the faculty. Pill-Soon Song joins the faculty as chair and
professor. |
|
| 1988 | Carolyn Price joins the faculty. H.F. Holtzclaw retires, and
establishes a graduate fellowship fund with his wife, Jean. D.M.S. Wheeler
receives the Syford Memorial Scholarship for the summer. |
|
| 1989 | S.M. Schuster leaves for the University of Florida in
Gainesville. |
|
| 1990 | William H. Braunlin, Mark A. Griep and Jody G. Redepenning join the
faculty. The department creates the Dow-Sheetz Undergraduate Commons and
Undergraduate Instrumentation Lab. |
|
| 1991 | The National Science Foundation begins to phase out funding for
regional mass spectrometry centers. |
|
| 1992 | John Stezowski joins the faculty as a full professor, and David
Berkowitz joins as an assistant professor. Gerard Harbison and Andrzej Rajca also
join the faculty. Gallup and Wheeler retire. The National Science Foundation funds
a single-crystal x-ray diffraction and molecular-modelling laboratory. The
department, at this point, has five NMR Spectrometers and one EPR. The University
awards Lee B. Jones, an administrator with a background in chemistry, an honorary
University of Nebraska doctoral degree. |
|
| 1993 | D.M.S. Wheeler sues a Canadian company, ACIC Inc., for not
following through with promised research funding. Xiao Cheng Zeng joins the
faculty as an assistant professor. Paul Kelter joins the faculty from the
University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh. |
|
| 1994 | The Charles A. Stiefvater Memorial Lectureship begins. V. Day sues
over a low salary and his limited title of associate professor. M. Gross leaves
for Washington University in St. Louis, and David Smith becomes the new head of
the Nebraska Center for Mass Spectrometry. |
|
| 1995 | H.F. Holtzclaw is the Distinguished FOundation Professor Emeritus
of Chemistry. He also receiveds the James A. Lake Award for Academic Freedom for
his part in the investigation of Stephen Rozman in 1970-1971. K. Barry Sharpless
of the Chemistry department at the Scripps Research Institute receives the Cliff
S. Hamilton Award. |
|
| 1996 | L.J. Parkhurst is interim chair for one year. P. Kelter receives
the ASUN Outstanding Teacher Award. E.P. Rack dies February 2. J.D. Carr receives
an Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award. "Celebrating Women in
Science and Theory" is the theme for the third annual "No Limits"
interdisciplinary regional Women's Studies conference. Joyce Ore joins the
department faculty. Darrel Kinnan, laboratory manager in chemistry, received
university Kudos awards for the month of April. The National Science Foundation
extends the Nebraska EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research) program to include chemistry, biological sciences and engineering
mechanics. P. Song is elected as president of the Association Internationale de
Photobiology for four years. R. Rieke becomes a fellow in the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. A faculty member appeals a denial of tenure
decision by the campus administrators, and the ensuing appeal sparks amendments to
the appeals system for the Board of Regents. |
|
| 1997 | Charles William McLaughlin joins the faculty. P. Song receives the
European Society for Photobiology Research Achievement Award Medal. D.B. Berkowitz
becomes an associate professor, and is named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.
C. Price accepts an invitation to serve as a member of the Molecular Cytology
Study Section, Division of Research Grants, at the National Institutes of Health .
Alexander Kim, a graduate student, receives the Graduate Assistant Mentoring
Award. P. Kelter receives the ASUN Outstanding Teacher Award. R. Rieke wins the
53rd Midwest Award from the St. Louis ACS chapter. The Chemistry Department holds
a free public Chemistry Day at the Beadle Center. |
|
| 1998 | X.C. Zeng becomes an associate professor. An administrative
assistant in the department, Diane Stevens, is fired for misuse of funds. J.
Redepenning receives a Distinguished Teaching Award. The science departments
collaborate with the Honors program to develop honors research courses. C.
Eckhardt and X.C. Zeng receive an EPSCOR grant of $431,800 to study the role of
shock, electronic structure and elastic properties in the detonation of
high-energy materials, and M. Langell, along with Peter Dowben in physics, Brian
Robertson in mechanical engineering, and N.J. Ianno in electrical engineering
receive an EPSCOR grant of $306,000 to improve high-temperature semiconductors.
Carr and Kelter, along with Andrew Scott of Scotland, are honored at a special
reception for their book "Chemistry: A World of Choices". D.L. Smith is appointed
to the search committee for a vice chancellor of research. D. Berkowitz and X.C.
Zeng are appointed to a Task Force to chart a course for the university's research
and graduate programs. |
|
| 1999 | P. Kelter receives an Outstanding Teaching and Instructional
Creativity Award. P. Kelter is also appointed to the Academy of Distinguished
Teachers. D. and J. Smith receive more than $1.5 million over a five-year period
to continue their research into changes to the eye frequently associated with the
cataract condition. M.A. Griep publishes ground-breaking research on
primase-errors in DNA replication. P. Dussault is appointed to the search
committee for Vice Chancellor for Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
P. Song, along with molecular geneticist Gitsu Choi of South Korea's Kumho Life
Science Laboratory, find the missing connection between a plant's initial
detection of light and its physiological response at the molecular and cellular
level. |
|
| 2000 | C.W. McLaughlin is named one of two Outstanding Educators of the
Year by student government. P. Song receives the UNL Outstanding Research and
Creativity Award and the Samsung Foundation's Ho-Am Science Prize in South Korea.
He is also President of the International Union of Photobiology. Doctoral
candidate Robyn Richards receives a presidential graduate fellowship. UNL receives
a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund
part of the rennovations to Hamilton Hall. Kate Shaner, the Department's financial
operations manager, receives the University Kudos Award. UNL subscribes to
SciFinder Scholar, a database under the Chemical Abstract Service, to facilitate
student chemistry research. Alan Heeger, a 1957 graduate, wins a Nobel Prize for
contributions to chemistry for research into semiconducting and metallic plastics
called electropolymers, key materials for high tech industries and applications.
X.C. Zeng's group publishes on their discovery of glass ice, or "Nebraska
ice". |
|
| 2001 | C.W. McLaughlin receives a Distinguished Teaching Award from the
Nebraska Legislature. Liancheng Du joins the faculty. X.C. Zeng becomes a full
professor. Jim C.H. Wang is awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Graduate student
David Pugmire receives the Folsom Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award for
his research, Nickelocene Adsorption and Decomposition on Single Crystal Surfaces,
and R. Rieke recieves the Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of
Minnesota, the highest honor bestowed on alumni. X.C. Zeng's team models four new
kinds of crystalline ice. L.J. Parkhurst becomes the Hewett University Professor
of Chemistry, and has the longest record of continuing National Institutes of
Health funding at the university. Chancellor Perlman gives Nobel prize winning
alumnus A. Heeger the inaugural Bessey Medal. A. Rajca's group create the world's
first plastic magnets. D. Brooks, professor of Chemistry Education, becomes a
fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
|
| 2002 | Hideaki Moriyama joins the faculty as a Research Associate
Professor. X.C. Zeng becomes an Inaugural Willa Cather Professor of Chemistry.
Hamilton Hall becomes home to a small prototype of PrairieFire, UNL's
supercomputer. The University of Nebraska State Museum presents a project entitled
Critical Mass and Mentors: "Women Scientists at the University of Nebraska,
1876-1915". D. Berkowitz and doctoral students Mohua Bose and Sungjo Choi develop
a new method for screening catalysts. The NSF, through a $5.4 million grant, funds
a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UNL. The NSF also gives
$6.05 million in funds for the Plant Genome Center, which involves R. Cerny and
assists in research for most science departments on campus. UNL receives a $10
million grant from NIH for the Nebraska Center for Redox Biology. NSF gives UNL
$900,000 grant for the purchase of a nuclear magnetic resonance imager; a $400,000
grant for J. Takacs' group for the purchase of a nuclear magnetic resonance
spectrometer capable of real-time, flow-through sampling of reaction mixtures, one
of the first such NMRs to be installed at an academic institution; and a $240,000
NSF Materials Instrumentation Grant to support purchase of an automated
diffractometer for L. Parkhurst's lab. L. Parkhurst also receives two successful
National Institutes of Health proposals, each worth about $2 million, to renovate
the seventh and eighth floors of Hamilton Hall. |
|
| 2003 | J.M. Takacs is a guest editor for Current Organic Chemistry. Three
protein crystallization experiments under H. Moriyama are destroyed aboard the
space shuttle Columbia. The UNL Water Sciences Laboratory install a Quattro Micro
triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. R. Rieke's company, Rieke Metals, Inc., wins
the Walter Scott Entrepreneurial Business Award. Rick Albo wins the Graduate
Teaching Assistant Award from the College of Arts & Sciences. Yiki Yang
and the chemistry department receive the donation of novel textile manufacturing
technology from Procter & Gamble Company. R. Powers joins the faculty.
|
|
| 2004 | New exhaust fans are installed to increase safety of Hamilton Hall.
R.D. Rieke wins the Outstanding Scientist Award from Sigma Xi for his work with
Rieke metals, and X.C. Zeng receives a Sigma Xi Outstanding Young Scientist Award
for discovering metal-like properties of silicon tubes on the nanoscale. Gene and
Shirley Cordes establish the Elmer "Ike" H. and Ruby M. Cordes Chair in Chemistry
at the University of Nebraska Foundation. X.C. Zeng receives a Guggenheim
Fellowship. Hage and graduate student Jianzhong Chen develop a pharmaceutically
important process for quantitative analysis of allosteric drug-protein binding.
|
|
| 2005 | D.B. Berkowitz is promoted to full professor, and receives the
College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award. He is also a
temporary visiting professor at the Universite de Rouen in France. Barry Chin Li
Chueng joins the faculty as an assistant professor. M.A. Griep and C.W. McLauglin
win a Teaching and Learning Seed Grant for their proposal: "Chemistry in Context
Lab Development". On February 25, C.W. McLaughlin receives the Outstanding
Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award. Sarah Pettio receives a Sigma Xi
honor for Outstanding Graduate Students. M. Langell becomes a Charles Bessey
Professor of Chemistry. The Chemistry, Physics and Biology libraries move from
their respective buildings to a new Science Wing in Love Library. C.W. McLaughlin
begins working to develop podcasts for chemistry reviews for Chemistry 109. C.A.
Kingsbury retires. |
|
| 2006 | J.A. Belot hands around homemade fireworks in his freshmen
chemistry course and several students take some home, resulting in warnings for
and students and suspension of the professor. D.B. Berkowitz is a Visiting
Professor, Max Planck Institut für molekulare Physiologie, Dortmund, Germany. C.W.
McLaughlin is on an extended leave of absence. X.C. Zeng becomes an Ameritas
University Professor and Willa Cather Emeritus Professor. J. Redepenning discovers
a one-step process that creates synthetic bone. Jessica Peinado, a sophomore
chemistry major, receives an honorable mention for a Goldwater. X.C. Zeng's group
discovers hollow cage-like structures made of pure gold atoms on the nanoscale.
The UNL Department of Chemistry hosts a Chemistry Alumni Reunion September 15-16,
bringing together alumni from across the nation. Science magazine Discover names
Jay Keasling, a 1986 graduate of UNL with a double major in chemistry and biology
and currently professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering and a synthetic
biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, Scientist the Year. In
December, X.C. Zeng and two members of his team discover double helixes of ice
molecules, which resemble DNA and self-assemble under high pressure in carbon
nanotubes. |
|
| 2007 | Satya Bulusu, one of Dr. Zeng's doctoral students and graduate
research assistants, receives an Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award.
"In the March issue of Nature Nanotechnology, Andrei Sokolov, Chunjuan Zhang,
Evgeny Tsymbal, and Jody Redepenning, all from UNL, and Bernard Doudin, a former
UNL colleague now of the Institut de Physique et de Chimie des Materiaux de
Strasbourg in France, reported quantized magnetoresistance in atomic-size
contacts," a ground-breaking proof in nanoscale magnetoresistance phenomenon.
Sigma Xi awards Chris Schwartz as Outstanding Graduate Student for research
achievements in oxidation chemistry. J.A. Belot resigns over the fireworks fiasco.
J. Stezowski dies. The Chemistry department celebrates its 125th
Anniversary |
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