Presidents 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 ...

: * John W. Draper (1876) *

J. Lawrence Smith John Lawrence Smith (December 17, 1818 – October 12, 1883) was an American chemist and mineralogist. He published extensively on analytical chemistry and mineralogy, including ''Mineralogy and Chemistry, Original Researches'' (1873; enla ...

(1877) *

Samuel William Johnson Samuel William Johnson (3 July 1830 Kingsboro, New York – 1909) was a U.S. American agricultural chemist. He promoted the movement to bring the sciences to the aid of American farmers through agricultural experiment stations and education in ...

(1878) *

T. Sterry Hunt Thomas Sterry Hunt (September 5, 1826February 12, 1892) was an American geologist and chemist. Biography Hunt was born at Norwich, Connecticut. He lost his father when twelve years old, and had to earn his own livelihood. In the course of two ...

(1879) * Frederick A. Genth (1880) *

Charles F. Chandler Charles Frederick Chandler (December 6, 1836 – August 25, 1925) was an American chemist, best known for his regulatory work in public health, sanitation, and consumer safety in New York City, as well as his work in chemical education—first a ...

(1881) * John W. Mallet (1882) * James C. Booth (1883) * Albert B. Prescott (1886) * Charles Anthony Goessmann (1887) *

(1888) *

(1889) * Henry B. Nason (1890) * George F. Barker (1891) * George C. Caldwell (1892) *

Harvey W. Wiley Harvey Washington Wiley (October 18, 1844 – June 30, 1930) was an American chemist who fought for the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and subsequently worked at the Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories. He was ...

(1893) *

Edgar Fahs Smith Edgar Fahs Smith (May 23, 1854 – May 3, 1928) was an American scientist who is best known today for his interests in the history of chemistry. He served as provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1911 to 1920, was deeply involved in the ...

(1895) * Charles B. Dudley (1896) *

Charles E. Munroe Charles Edward Munroe (May 24, 1849 – December 7, 1938) was an American chemist, discoverer of the Munroe effect, and chair of the Department of Chemistry at the George Washington University.Donald R. Kennedy''History of the Shaped Charge ...

(1898) *

Edward W. Morley Edward Williams Morley (January 29, 1838 – February 24, 1923) was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment. Biography Morley was born in New ...

(1899) *

William McMurtrie William McMurtrie (March 10, 1851 – May 24, 1913) was an American chemist. His work helped launch the sugar beet industry in the United States. Life and career Born on a farm near Belvidere, New Jersey, the son of Abram McMurtrie and Almira Smi ...

(1900) * Frank W. Clarke (1901) *

Ira Remsen Ira Remsen (February 10, 1846 – March 4, 1927) was an American chemist who discovered the artificial sweetener saccharin along with Constantin Fahlberg. He was the second president of Johns Hopkins University. Early life Ira Remsen was born ...

(1902) * John H. Long (1903) *

Arthur Amos Noyes Arthur Amos Noyes (September 13, 1866 – June 3, 1936) was an American chemist, inventor and educator. He received a PhD in 1890 from Leipzig University under the guidance of Wilhelm Ostwald. He served as the acting president of MIT between ...

(1904) * Francis P. Venable (1905) * William F. Hillebrand (1906) *

Marston T. Bogert Marston Taylor Bogert (April 18, 1868 – March 21, 1954) was an American chemist. Biography He was born in Flushing, New York on April 18, 1868 and studied at the Flushing Institute, which was a well known private school, where he was a strai ...

(1907) *

Willis R. Whitney Willis Rodney Whitney (August 22, 1868 – January 9, 1958) was an American chemist and founder of the research laboratory of the General Electric Company. He is known as the "father of industrial research" in the United States for blending the w ...

(1909) * Wilder D. Bancroft (1910) * Alexander Smith (1911) *

Arthur D. Little Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1886 and formally incorporated in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. ...

(1912) * Theodore W. Richards (1914) * Charles H. Herty (1915) *

Julius Stieglitz Julius Oscar Stieglitz (May 26, 1867 – January 10, 1937) was an American chemist of German Jewish origin. He was a teacher and organic chemist with a major interest in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry. He is known for the Stieglitz rearran ...

(1917) *

William H. Nichols William Henry Nichols (1852–1930) was an American chemist and businessman. He was instrumental in building the chemical supply business in the U.S. The specialty materials business of Honeywell traces its roots back a small sulfuric acid comp ...

(1918) *

William A. Noyes William Albert Noyes (November 6, 1857 – October 24, 1941) was an American analytical and organic chemist. He made pioneering determinations of atomic weights, chaired the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champ ...

(1920) *

(1921) *

Edward C. Franklin Edward Claus Franklin (April 14, 1928 – February 20, 1982) was a pioneering American immunologist and physician. He made major gains in the study of the aging process with contributions that led to the discovery of a group of abnormal protein ...

(1923) * Leo H. Baekeland (1924) *

James Flack Norris James Flack Norris (January 20, 1871 – August 4, 1940) was an American chemist. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Methodist minister, Norris was educated in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., before studying at Johns Hopkins University, where he gra ...

(1925) * George D. Rosengarten (1927) *

Samuel W. Parr Samuel Wilson Parr (1857 – May 16, 1931) was an American chemist and academic from Illinois. A graduate of the Illinois Industrial University (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign), he taught at Illinois College after receiving a master' ...

(1928) *

Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir (; January 31, 1881 – August 16, 1957) was an American chemist, physicist, and engineer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry. Langmuir's most famous publication is the 1919 art ...

(1929) * William McPherson (1930) *

Moses Gomberg Moses Gomberg (February 8, 1866 – February 12, 1947) was a chemistry professor at the University of Michigan. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and served as president of the American Chemical Society. Early life and education ...

(1931) *

Lawrence V. Redman Lawrence V. Redman (September 1, 1880 – November 26, 1946), was a Canadian chemist and businessman who spent much of his adult life in the United States. Redman was a pioneer in the industrial applications of plastics. Biography Born in Oi ...

(1932) * Arthur B. Lamb (1933) *

Charles L. Reese Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

(1934) *

Roger Adams Roger Adams (January 2, 1889 – July 6, 1971) was an American organic chemist who developed the eponymous Adams' catalyst, and helped determine the composition of natural substances such as complex vegetable oils and plant alkaloids. He isolat ...

(1935) *

Edward Bartow Edward Bartow (January 12, 1870 – April 12, 1958) was an American chemist and an expert in the field of sanitary chemistry. His career extended from 1897 to 1958 and he is best known for his work in drinking water purification and wastewat ...

(1936) *

Edward R. Weidlein Edward Ray Weidlein (July 14, 1887 – August 15, 1983) was a chemist and later director, chairman, and president at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. He served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1937 and of the American I ...

(1937) * Frank C. Whitmore (1938) *

Charles A. Kraus Charles August Kraus (August 15, 1875 – June 27, 1967) was an American chemist. He was professor of chemistry and director of the chemical laboratories at Clark University, where he directed the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. Late ...

(1939) * Samuel C. Lind (1940) *

William Lloyd Evans William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(1941) * Harry N. Holmes (1942) * Per K. Frolich (1943) *

Thomas Midgley, Jr. Thomas Midgley Jr. (May 18, 1889 – November 2, 1944) was an American mechanical and chemical engineer. He played a major role in developing leaded gasoline (tetraethyl lead) and some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known i ...

(1944) * Carl S. Marvel (1945) * Bradley Dewey (1946) *

W. Albert Noyes, Jr. William Albert Noyes Jr. (April 18, 1898 – November 25, 1980), commonly known as W. Albert Noyes Jr., was an American chemist known for his contributions to photochemistry. During World War II, he was a leader in U.S. defense research efforts. H ...

(1947) *

Charles A. Thomas Charles Allen Thomas (February 15, 1900 – March 29, 1982) was a noted American chemist and businessman, and an important figure in the Manhattan Project. He held over 100 patents. A graduate of Transylvania College and Massachusetts Institute ...

(1948) *

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

(1949) *

Ernest H. Volwiler Ernest Henry Volwiler (August 22, 1893 – October 3, 1992) was an American chemist. He spent his career at Abbott Laboratories working his way from staff chemist to CEO. He was a pioneer in the field of anesthetic pharmacology, assisting in th ...

(1950) * N. Howell Funnan (1951) * Edgar C. Britton (1952) *

Farrington Daniels Farrington Daniels (March 8, 1889 – June 23, 1972) was an American physical chemist who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern direct use of solar energy. Biography Daniels was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 8, 1889. Dani ...

(1953) *

Harry L. Fisher Harry Linn Fisher (19 January 1885 – 19 March 1961) was the 69th national president of the American Chemical Society, and an authority on the chemistry of vulcanization. Fisher was the author of four popular books on the chemistry and technology ...

(1954) * Joel H. Hildebrand (1955) * John C. Warner (1956) *

Roger J. Williams Roger John Williams (August 14, 1893 – February 20, 1988), was an American biochemist. He is known for is work on vitamins and human nutrition. He had leading roles in the discovery of folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, lipoic acid ...

(1957) * Clifford F. Rassweiler (1958) * John C. Bailar, Jr. (1959) * Albert L. Elder (1960) *

Arthur C. Cope Arthur C. Cope (June 27, 1909 – June 4, 1966) was an American organic chemist and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is credited with the development of several important chemical reactions which bear his name includin ...

(1961) *

Karl Folkers Karl August Folkers (September 1, 1906 – December 7, 1997) was an American biochemist who made major contributions to the isolation and identification of bioactive natural products. Career Folkers graduated from the College of Liberal Arts a ...

(1962) * Henry Eyring (1963) * Maurice H. Arveson (1964) * Charles C. Price (1965) *

William J. Sparks William Joseph Sparks (February 26, 1905 – October 23, 1976) was a chemist at Exxon. As an inventor, his most important contribution was the development of butyl rubber. Sparks served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1966 and ...

(1966) *

Charles G. Overberger Charles Gilbert Overberger (October 12, 1920 – March 17, 1997) was an American chemist, specialising in polymer research and education. Biography Overberger was born in Barnesboro, Pennsylvania on October 12, 1920. In 1941, he was awarded a ...

(1967) *

Robert W. Cairns Robert W. Cairns (1909-1985) was an American chemist who worked at Hercules and at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He contributed to World War II technological advances in explosives. Biography Cairns was born in Oberlin, Ohio. He was the son o ...

(1968) * Wallace R. Brode (1969) * Byron Riegel (1970) *

Melvin Calvin Melvin Ellis Calvin (April 8, 1912 – January 8, 1997) was an American biochemist known for discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham, for which he was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He spent most of hi ...

(1971) *

Max Tishler Max Tishler (October 30, 1906 – March 18, 1989) was president of Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories where he led the research teams that synthesized ascorbic acid, riboflavin, cortisone, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, nicotinamide, me ...

(1972) * Alan C. Nixon (1973) * Bernard S. Friedman (1974) *

William J. Bailey William J. Bailey (January 13, 1807 – February 5, 1876) was a British-born physician who migrated to the United States, where he became a pioneer and politician in the Oregon Country, particularly the Willamette Valley. Bailey participated in the ...

(1975) *

Glenn T. Seaborg Glenn Theodore Seaborg (; April 19, 1912February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His work in ...

(1976) *

Henry A. Hill Henry Aaron Hill (May 30, 1915 – 1979) was an American chemist who became the first African American president of the American Chemical Society (ACS). As a scientist, he specialized in the chemistry of fluorocarbons. Education and career Henr ...

(1977) *

Anna J. Harrison Anna Jane Harrison (December 23, 1912 – August 8, 1998) was an American organic chemist and a professor of chemistry at Mount Holyoke College for nearly forty years. She was the first female President of the American Chemical Society, and the ...

(1978) *

Gardner W. Stacy Gardner may refer to: Name *Gardner (given name) *Gardner (surname) Places United States *Gardner, Colorado *Gardner, Illinois * Gardner, Kansas *Gardner, Massachusetts *Gardner, North Dakota * Gardner, Tennessee * Gardner, Wisconsin * Glen Gard ...

(1979) *

James D. D'Ianni James Daniel D'Ianni (1914–2007) was a scientist at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company noted for his contributions to the development of synthetic rubber. D'Ianni spent his career with Goodyear, except for a leave he took in 1946 to serve as ch ...

(1980) * Albert C. Zettlemoyer (1981) * Robert W. Parry (1982) *

Fred Basolo Fred Basolo (11 February 1920 – 27 February 2007) was an American inorganic chemist. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1943, under Prof. John C. Bailar, Jr. Basolo spent his professional career at Nort ...

(1983) *

Warren D. Niederhauser Warren Dexter Niederhauser (January 2, 1918 – January 23, 2005) was an American chemist who was the President of the American Chemical Society (ACS). He worked at of Rohm and Haas chemical company from 1943 to 1985. Early life and education N ...

(1984) * Ellis K. Fields (1985) *

George C. Pimentel George Claude Pimentel (May 2, 1922 – June 18, 1989) was the inventor of the chemical laser. He also developed the technique of matrix isolation in low-temperature chemistry. In theoretical chemistry, he proposed the three-center four-electron ...

(1986) *

Mary L. Good Mary Lowe Good (June 20, 1931 – November 20, 2019) was an American inorganic chemist who worked academically, in industrial research and in government. Good contributed to the understanding of catalysts such as ruthenium which activate or speed ...

(1987) * Gordon L. Nelson (1988) *

Clayton F. Callis Clayton may refer to: People *Clayton (name) * Clayton baronets * The Clayton Brothers, Jeff and John, jazz musicians *Clayton Brothers, Rob and Christian, painter artists * Justice Clayton (disambiguation), the judges Clayton Places Canada * Cl ...

(1989) * Paul G. Gassman (1990) * S. Allen Heininger (1991) *

Ernest L. Eliel Ernest Ludwig Eliel (December 28, 1921 – September 18, 2008) was an organic chemistry, organic chemist born in Cologne, Germany. Among his awards were the Priestley Medal in 1996

(1992) * Helen M. Free (1993) *

Ned D. Heindel Ned D. Heindel (September 4, 1937) is an American chemist. He is the Howard S. Bunn Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Lehigh University, where he continues to do research. Heindel also works as a medical research consultant. Heindel ...

(1994) * Brian M. Rushton (1995) *

Ronald Breslow Ronald Charles David Breslow (March 14, 1931 – October 25, 2017) was an American chemist from Rahway, New Jersey. He was University Professor at Columbia University, where he was based in the Department of Chemistry and affiliated with the De ...

(1996) * Paul S. Anderson (1997) * Paul H.L. Walter (1998) * Edel Wasserman (1999) * Daryle H. Busch (2000) * Attila E. Pavlath (2001) *

Eli M. Pearce Eli M. Pearce (May 1, 1929 – May 18, 2015) was research professor at New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering and a past-president of the American Chemical Society. He received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Brooklyn College in 1949 ...

(2002) *

Elsa Reichmanis Elsa Reichmanis (born 9 December 1953 in Melbourne, Australia) is an American chemist, who was the 2003 president of the American Chemical Society. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1995 for the discovery, devel ...

(2003) * Charles P. Casey (2004) * William F. Carroll, Jr. (2005) *

Elizabeth Ann Nalley Elizabeth Ann Nalley (also known as Ann Nalley) is an American chemist and professor of chemistry at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. Nalley was born in July, 1942 at Catron, Missouri.. She received a B.S. in chemical education from N ...

(2006) * Catherine T. Hunt (2007) *

Bruce E. Bursten Bruce Edward Bursten (March 8, 1954) is an American chemist, professor of chemistry, and was president of the American Chemical Society. He is provost at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. His research has specialised in inorganic chemistry and met ...

(2008) * Thomas H. Lane (2009) *

Joseph Francisco Joseph S. Francisco (born 26 March 1955) is an American scientist and the former president of the American Chemical Society from 2009 to 2010. He currently serves as the President's Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and ...

(2010) * Nancy B. Jackson (2011) * Bassam Z. Shakhashiri (2012) *

Marinda Li Wu Marinda Li Wu is an American chemist, who has worked for more than 30 years in the chemical industry, primarily with Dow Chemical Company, in research and development and plastics marketing. She was involved in early research on the recycling of ...

(2013) *

Thomas J. Barton Thomas J. Barton is an American chemist who served as the president of the American Chemical Society in 2014. Biography He graduated from Lamar University, and from University of Florida in 1967. He was a post-doctoral fellow with National Instit ...

(2014) * Diane Grob Schmidt (2015) * Donna J. Nelson (2016) *

Allison A. Campbell Allison A. Campbell (born 1963, in Portland, Oregon) is an American chemist who is known in the areas of biomineralization, biomimetics and biomaterials for her innovative work on bioactive coatings for medical implants. She is the acting associ ...

(2017) * Peter K. Dorhout (2018) * Bonnie A. Charpentier (2019) *

Luis Echegoyen Luis A. Echegoyen (born January 17, 1951) is a chemistry professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, and 2020 President of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Background Echegoyen was born in Havana, Cuba, and received his B.S. and Ph.D. ...

(2020) *

H.N. Cheng H.N. Cheng is an American research chemist. His most recent position was with U.S. Department of Agriculture in its Agricultural Research Service. Early life He received his BS in chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, (Phi Be ...

(2021) * Angela K. Wilson (2022)

References

{{Presidents of the American Chemical Society, state=collapse American Chemical Society