Russell Stephen Drago (November 5, 1928 – December 5, 1997) was an American professor of
inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...
.
[(see http://www.ACS.org for the publications) American Chemical Society Website] He mentored more than 130 PhD students, authored over a dozen textbooks and four hundred research documents, which have been published in several languages. He filed 17 process patents. and established the Florida Catalysis Conference Foundation, Inc.
Personal life
Russell S. Drago was born November 5, 1928, in
Montague, Massachusetts
Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,580 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area.
The villages of Montague Center, Montague City, Lake ...
to Stephen R. Drago and Lillia Mary Margret (Pucci) Drago.
In 1950, Drago married Ruth Ann Burrill (January 29, 1929 – November 9, 2013). They remained married for 47 years until his death. They had four children, Patti Kouba (Drago), Steve, Paul, and Robert.
Career
In June, 1950, Drago graduated with a BS degree in Chemistry from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
. After he completed his time with the U.S. Air Force, he enrolled at
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 ...
under the
GI bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
, completing his Ph.D. degree on December 17, 1954, under Professor Harry Sisler. His thesis was entitled "Studies on the Synthesis of Chloramine and Hydrazine."
In 1955, he was hired at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
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 Universit ...
Department of Chemistry, where he remained until 1982. In 1966, he published the textbook Physical Methods in Inorganic Chemistry. In 1982, he moved to the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
as Graduate Research Professor of Chemistry.
Chemistry lineage
Drago (Ohio St, 1954) < Sisler (Illinois, 1939) < Audrieth (Cornell, 1926) < Browne (Cornell, 1903) < Dennis (Michigan, 1886) < Hempel (Heidelberg, 1873) <
Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (;
30 March 1811
– 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...
(Göttingen, 1830) <
Friedrich Stromeyer
Prof Friedrich Stromeyer FRS(For) FRSE (2 August 1776 – 18 August 1835) was a German chemist. He was the discoverer of cadmium.
From 1982 a Friedrich Stromeyer Prize has been awarded for chemical achievement in Germany.
Life
He was born in ...
(Göttingen, 1800) <
Louis Nicolas Vauquelin
Prof. Louis Nicolas Vauquelin Royal Society of London, FRS(For) HFRSE (16 May 1763 – 14 November 1829) was a French pharmacist and chemist. He was the discoverer of both chromium and beryllium.
Early life
Vauquelin was born at Saint-André-d'H ...
(Paris, 1790) <
Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy
Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin.
The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...
(Paris, 1780) <
Jean Baptiste Michel Bucquet
Jean-Baptiste-Michel Bucquet (; 18 February 1746 – 24 January 1780) was a French chemist, member of the French Royal Academy of Sciences, physician and public teacher.
Life and work
Bucquet was born in Paris, in 1746. He was first sent to s ...
(Paris 1770) and
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and th ...
(Paris, 1764)
Contributions
Drago's research covered both the theoretical and practical side of acid-base chemistry. He developed the
E and C equation as a quantitative model for acid-base reactions. His group used a variety of physical methods to probe intermolecular interactions and helped pioneer
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...
studies of paramagnetic systems. He contributed to the area of catalysis focusing primarily on chemical processes relevant to industrial applications. Work in this field contributed significantly to the understanding of
ligand
In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule (functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electr ...
– metal and metal – metal interactions and their influence on the mechanisms, activity, and selectivity of numerous transition metals catalyzed systems.
A video interview with Drago is available.
Accomplishments
*1966: published Physical Methods in Inorganic Chemistry
*1966: published Prerequisites for College Chemistry
*1969: won the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry
*1970: co-authored Acids and Bases with N A Matwiyoff
*1970: co-authored Core Experiments in General Chemistry with
T L Brown
*1971: published Qualitative Concepts from Quantum Chemistry
*1973: awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Chemistry
*1974: published Principles of Chemistry with Practical Perspectives
*1979: published General Chemistry Problem Solving I
*1986: established the Florida Catalysis Conference Foundation, Inc.
*1994: published Applications of Electrostatic-Covalent Models in Chemistry
Professor Drago established the Drago Distinguished Professor position at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, and an annual Drago Chemistry Award at
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
.
PhD theses supervised
*1958 – C. Shumulbach;
*1959 – J. Chandler;
*1960 – B. Karstetter, R. Ragsdale, N. Rose;
*1961 – R. Latham, D. Straub, D. Wenz;
*1962 – R. Carlson, M. Joesten, D. Meek, J. Wuller;
*1963 – J. Donoghue, R. Longhi, D. Lydy, N. Matwiyoff, R. Niedzielski;
*1964 – D. Eyman, V Meek, L. Sacks, G. Shier, B. Wayland;
*1965 – R. Middaugh, V. Mode, K. Purcell, M. Rosenthal, K. Whitten;
*1966 – T. Bolles, D. Herlocker, P. Van der Voom;
*1967 – F. Henneike, H. Petersen, M. Rettig, M. Wicholas;
*1968 – D. Dugre, T. Epley, R. Fitzgerald, J. Hill, D. Rowley, S. Zumdahl;
*1969 – S. Anderson, D. Brown, R. Cramer;
*1970 – E. Baucom, R. DeSimone, W. Perry, G. Vogel, J. Zink;
*1971 – Y. Lim, T. Maier, R. Strange;
*1972 – R. Chiang, E. Johnson, T. Needham, F. Slejko;
*1973 – N. Kildahl, D. McMillin, A. Marks;
*1974 – J. Elias, R. Guidry, N. O’Bryan, A. Pribula;
*1975 – T. Beugelsdijk, B. Tovrog;
*1976 – M. Hoselton,
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 ...
, D. Kitko, R. Richman;
*1977 – J. Breese, T. Kuechler;
*1978 – C. Chamberlain, J. Gaul;
*1979 – B. Bunker, P. Cannady. A. El A’mma;
*1980 – M. Desmond, K. Leslie, J. Long;
*1981 – M. Kroeger, A. Zombeck;
*1982 – B. Corden, E. Nyberg;
*1984 – D. Oester, J. Telser;
*1985 – D. Hamilton, J. Miller, D. Pribich, J. Stahlbush, E. Stine;
*1986 – K. Balkus, C.Bilgrien, K. Weiss, A. Zuzich;
*1987 – J. Clark, R. Cosmano, P. Doan, C. Owens;
*1988 – S. Davis, C. Getty, E. Getty;
*1989 – M. Barnes, G. Grunwald, R. Riley, R. Taylor;
*1990 – T. Cundari, N. Wong;
*1991 – A. Goldstein;
*1992 – S. Petrosius, S. Showalter;
*1993 – M. Naughton, D. Patton;
*1994 – C. Chronister, D. Ferris, J. Hage;
*1995 – T. Lafrenz, M. Robbins;
*1996 – N. Kob;
*1997 – J. Dias, S. Dias, K. Lo, J. McGilvray;
*1998 – M. Gonzalez, S. Joerg, W. Kassel, A. Mateus;
*1999 – K. Frank, B. Gordon, D. Ortillo, J. Osegovic, B. Scott, C. Webster, C. Xu.
Visiting professors and post-doctorals
*R. Beer
*I. Bertini
*R. Bhattacharyya
*R. Birdwhistel
*I. Bresisnka
*J. Bright
*D. Burns
*P. Bustamante
*G. Dahlen
*J. George
*C. Grunwald
*D. Hart
*K. Jurzyk
*P. Kaufman
*E. Kwiatkowska
*D. Kovala-Demertzi
*A. Newman
*M. Nozari
*J. Nusz
*W. Partenheimer
*J. Ramsden
*D. Reichgott
*M. Rudolf
*J. Sales
*
Bassam Shakhashiri
Bassam Z. Shakhashiri (born 1939, Lebanon) is a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is the holder of the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair. An active advocate for science education, he is the author of mul ...
*G. Shul’pin
*D. Singh
*P. Tanner
*M.Torreabla
*I. Walker
*W. White
*L. Wilson
*
You Xiao-Zeng
*Y. Zub
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drago, Russell S.
1928 births
1997 deaths
20th-century American chemists
Inorganic chemists
University of Florida faculty
People from Montague, Massachusetts