Emma Perry Carr (July 23, 1880 – January 7, 1972) was an American

spectroscopist Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wav ...

and chemical educator. Her work on

unsaturated hydrocarbon 300px, Structure of an ethene molecule, the simplest unsaturated hydrocarbon Unsaturated hydrocarbons are hydrocarbons that have double or triple covalent bonds between adjacent carbon atoms. The term "unsaturated" means more hydrogen atoms may ...

s and

absorption spectra Absorption spectroscopy refers to spectroscopic techniques that measure the absorption of radiation, as a function of frequency or wavelength, due to its interaction with a sample. The sample absorbs energy, i.e., photons, from the radiating fie ...

earned her the inaugural Francis P. Garvan Medal (now the

Garvan–Olin Medal The Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal is an annual award that recognizes distinguished scientific accomplishment, leadership and service to chemistry by women chemists. The Award is offered by the American Chemical Society (ACS), and consist ...

) from 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 ...

in 1937.

Early life and education

She was born in

Holmesville, Ohio Holmesville is a village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ran ...

, the third child of Edmund and Anna Carr. Both her father and grandfather were country doctors who advocated education. She went to high school in

Coshocton, Ohio Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States approximately 63 mi (102 km) ENE of Columbus. The population was 11,216 at the 2010 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in Cos ...

. She attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1898 until 1899. She attended

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

from 1900 until 1902,. then worked at the school as an assistant in the chemistry department until she went to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

for her senior year in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

. She received her B.S. from the

in 1905. She taught for two years at Mount Holyoke before returning to the University of Chicago to study for her Ph.D., which she earned in 1910.

Career

After receiving her doctorate, she began teaching

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and became chair of the chemistry department in 1913. She was able to establish a research program studying the ultraviolet spectra of

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ex ...

s, and established a link between the frequencies of the absorptions and the enthalpy change of combustion of the compound. She also participated in the ''International Critical Tables'' of the International Research Council, where she worked with Professor

Victor Henri Victor Henri (6 June 1872 – 21 June 1940) was a French-Russian Physical chemistry, physical chemist and physiologist. He was born in Marseilles as a son of Russian parents. He is known mainly as an early pioneer in enzyme kinetics. He publishe ...

of the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

. Carr was a worldwide leader in the use of the

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

spectra of

organic molecules In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The s ...

as a means of investigating their

electronic structure In quantum chemistry, electronic structure is the state of motion of electrons in an electrostatic field created by stationary nuclei. The term encompasses both the wave functions of the electrons and the energies associated with them. Electro ...

s. She led one of the earliest collaborative research groups that involved faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Carr was the inaugural recipient in 1937 of the Francis P. Garvan Gold Medal of the

(ACS), established "to recognize distinguished service to chemistry by women chemists". She also received the James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry of the Northeastern Section of the ACS in Spring 1957 (with colleague Mary Lura Sherrill).. She retired in 1946. When her health began to fail her, she was placed in a care home in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, closer to her nephew, James Carr, and the rest of her family. She died of heart failure on January 7, 1972.

Legacy

Much of Carr's energy was spent developing "perhaps the best undergraduate chemistry program in the country" at her alma mater. Her collaborative research group, composed of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students, was one of the earliest of its kind. Mount Holyoke College's chemistry building was dedicated to her in 1955. Carr Laboratory was reopened in Fall 2002 after being renovated and rebuilt in accordance with

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED) criteria for

green building Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...

Selected writings

*. *. *. *.

References

External links

Emma P. Carr Papers
from Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Emma Perry 1880 births 1972 deaths People from Holmes County, Ohio American women chemists Recipients of the Garvan–Olin Medal 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American chemists Mount Holyoke College faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society American women academics Chemists from Ohio