William Albert Noyes, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 18, 1898 Terre Haute, Indiana, United States |
| Died | November 25, 1980(1980-11-25) (aged 82) |
| Alma mater | Grinnell College University of Paris |
| Known for | Photochemistry |
| Awards | Priestley Medal (1954) Willard Gibbs Award (1956) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley University of Chicago Brown University University of Rochester University of Texas at Austin |
| Doctoral advisor | Henry Le Chatelier |
William Albert Noyes Jr. (April 18, 1898 – November 25, 1980), commonly known asW. Albert Noyes Jr., was an American chemist known for his contributions tophotochemistry. DuringWorld War II, he was a leader in U.S. defense research efforts. He chaired the chemistry department at theUniversity of Rochester, edited several important chemistry journals, and throughout his career was a prominent voice for international scientific cooperation. He was the son of the renowned chemistWilliam A. Noyes; they became the first father-son pair to win thePriestley Medal, the highest honor given by theAmerican Chemical Society.
William Albert Noyes Jr. was born on April 18, 1898, in Terre Haute, Indiana, the son of American chemist William A. Noyes, who was then a professor at theRose Polytechnic Institute. When his father was offered a position at theNational Bureau of Standards, the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where Noyes often accompanied his father to his laboratory on the campus ofJohns Hopkins University. There, the young Noyes met prominent scientists and was introduced to chemistry. In 1907, when his father was offered a faculty position at theUniversity of Illinois, Noyes moved toUrbana, Illinois, where he was raised.[1]
Noyes enrolled atGrinnell College in 1914, but enlisted in the military in 1917, after the United States enteredWorld War I. He went to France, where he served as an interpreter and radio operator.[2] Grinnell College awarded him a bachelor's degree when his military enlistment ended in 1919. He then decided to enroll at theUniversity of Paris (Sorbonne), where he studied in the lab ofHenry Le Chatelier and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1920.[3]
Noyes began his scientific and academic career at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he was a teaching fellow underJoel Henry Hildebrand. In 1921, he joined the faculty of theUniversity of Chicago, where he remained for seven years.[4] In 1925, he participated in a conference of theFaraday Society in Oxford, which has been called "the most important photochemistry meeting ever held." There, he delivered a paper called "The Formation of Polar Compounds by Photochemical Reactions."[5] In 1929, he joined the faculty ofBrown University, where he continued to build a reputation as a leading expert in photochemistry. During this period, he collaborated with Philip Leighton of Stanford University to write an influential textbook,The Photochemistry of Gases, which appeared in 1941.[6]
In 1938, Noyes accepted an offer to join theUniversity of Rochester as chair of the chemistry department. By 1940, he became involved in efforts to help the United States prepare for its entry into World War II by meeting regularly with theNational Defense Research Committee and various universities involved in defense research. After the United States entered the war, Noyes was named head of the Chemical Warfare and Smoke Division of the newly formedOffice of Scientific Research and Development.[7] Throughout the war, he continued to teach at Rochester while conducting defense research, which required frequent travel to England and elsewhere. He also served as an editor ofChemical Reviews, a journal his father founded.[8] After the war ended, he returned to Rochester full time, where he was the Charles Frederick Houghton Professor of Chemistry and remained chair of the chemistry department.[9] In 1947, he served a term as president of theAmerican Chemical Society.[10] At the same time, he was instrumental in promoting international scientific cooperation, chiefly through his involvement in the formation ofUNESCO.[11][12] He was appointed dean of graduate studies at Rochester in 1952 and then acting dean of the college of arts and sciences in 1956.[13] He also served as the editor of theJournal of the American Chemical Society from 1950 to 1962 and theJournal of Physical Chemistry from 1952 to 1964.[14]
In 1963, Noyes joined the faculty of theUniversity of Texas at Austin, where he continued to teach and conduct research until his retirement in 1973.[15]
Noyes academic interests also extended beyond the field of chemistry into the study ofmetaphysics and thephilosophy of science. In 1962 he assisted his colleagueColin Murray Turbayne in the preparation of his workThe Myth of Metaphor.[16]
Noyes's father was the American chemistWilliam Noyes and his mother was Flora Collier Noyes. His two younger half-brothers wereRichard (1919 – 1997) andPierre (1923 - 2016); both were chemists.
Noyes earned numerous honors throughout his career. These include:
By winning the Priestley Medal, Noyes and his father became the first father-son pair to win that prestigious award. His father won it in 1935.[29]
In addition, the University of Rochester has a distinguished lecture series named in Noyes' honor.[30]
