Charles Gilbert Overberger (October 12, 1920 – March 17, 1997) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

chemist, specialising in

polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

research and education.

Biography

Overberger was born in

Barnesboro, Pennsylvania Barnesboro, Pennsylvania was a borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The Borough of Barnesboro evolved from a tract of land which was rich in timber and coal resources. The tract of land, located i ...

on October 12, 1920. In 1941, he was awarded a B.Sc. at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

where he was a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity, Phi Eta Sigma honor society, and

Phi Lambda Upsilon Phi Lambda Upsilon National Honorary Chemical Society () was founded in 1899 at the Noyes Laboratory of the University of Illinois. Phi Lambda Upsilon was the first honor society dedicated to scholarship in a single discipline, chemistry. Object ...

honor society. He received his Ph.D. at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1944, where he continued to work as a research assistant for two years. From 1946 to 1947, he had a DuPont Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, then became assistant professor of chemistry at the

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

. In 1951, he became professor and associate director of the Polymer Research Institute. Between 1955 and 1963, he was chairman of the chemistry department, and from 1964 to 1967 dean of science and director of the Polymer Research Institute. He was president of the American Chemical Society in 1967. After that, he joined the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

as professor and chair of chemistry, where he also acted as vice president for research from 1972 to 1983. He founded the Macromolecular Research Center in 1968, and was director until 1987. He retired two years later. Overberger died in Riverview,

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

on March 17, 1997.

Awards and honors

* Charles Lathrop Parsons Award of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

(1978) * International Award of the Society of Plastics Engineers (1979) *

Howard N. Potts Medal The Howard N. Potts Medal was one of The Franklin Institute Awards for science and engineering award presented by the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named for Howard N. Potts. The first Howard N. Potts Medal was awarded in ...

from the Franklin Institute (1982) *

's Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award (1985)

References

1920 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American chemists Neurological disease deaths in Michigan Deaths from Parkinson's disease Howard N. Potts Medal recipients Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni New York University faculty Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Cambria County, Pennsylvania Presidents of the American Chemical Society University of Illinois alumni University of Michigan faculty Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty {{Chemist-stub