Willis Conway Pierce (December 2, 1895 – December 23, 1974) was an American chemist and professor at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

and in the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

system.

Career

Pierce left

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

as a sophomore for New York to serve in the gas defense section of the United States Army Signal Corps. He was in the army from April to December 1918. He subsequently graduated from Georgetown College in 1920. In that same year, he began teaching at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

and later at the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship univ ...

. He stayed on at the University of Chicago after receiving his Ph.D. to teach quantitative analysis. During this time he co-authored seminal chemistry textbook ''Quantitative Analysis'' with Edward Lauth Haenisch. ''Quantitative Analysis'' would go through 21 editions until 1963. During World War II, Pierce worked for the

Office of Scientific Research and Development The Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1 ...

National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the Un ...

. Pierce had been recruited by his doctoral advisor,

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 ...

, to join the "division 10" central laboratory at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Pierce's lab focused on

chemical warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...

defense and developed

carbon filtering Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a bed of activated carbon to remove impurities from a fluid using adsorption. Mechanism Carbon filtering works by adsorption, in which pollutants in the fluid to be treated are trapped inside the ...

for use in chemical protective masks. Pierce's work included an assignment in Australia and the South Pacific. He was awarded the

President's Certificate of Merit The President's Certificate of Merit was created June 6, 1946 by Executive Order 9734 signed by US President Harry Truman, "for award by the President or at his direction to any civilian who on or after December 7, 1941'' (see Attack on Pearl Harbor ...

in 1948 for his services. From 1945 to 1953, Pierce served as the chair of the chemistry department at

. During this time, fellow chemistry professor and well-known practical joker R. Nelson Smith pranked Pierce by releasing several pigeons from the ceiling during one of Pierce's lectures. Pierce took the joke in stride by bringing a shotgun to the next class. Pierce would later co-author a chemistry textbook, ''Solving General Chemistry Problems'', with Nelson. Pierce was recruited by Gordon S. Watkins to serve as the head of the Physical Sciences department at the then newly opened

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

(UCR) in 1953. Pierce was awarded the 1963 Honor Scroll from the

American Institute of Chemists The American Institute of Chemists (AIC) is an organization founded in 1923 with the goal of advancing the chemistry profession in the United States. The institute is known for its yearly awards recognizing contributions of individuals in this fie ...

for "outstanding contributions to the training of chemists and the advancement of the profession." After retiring from University of California, Riverside in 1965, Pierce provided input on

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

's new chemistry building. Pierce Hall on University of California, Riverside is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, W. Conway 1895 births 1974 deaths University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty University of California, Riverside faculty Georgetown College (Kentucky) alumni 20th-century American chemists Pomona College faculty University of South Dakota faculty People from Carrollton, Kentucky United States Army soldiers University of Kentucky faculty