Andrew Streitwieser begins this interview by describing his family, early education, and undergraduate days at Columbia University. He then discusses his graduate education at Columbia, stressing the influence of…

William Weis was born and grew up in Queens, New York, the youngest of three brothers. His grandparents immigrated from Ukraine, Belarus, and Latvia, ultimately settling in Brooklyn, New York. A "frustrated architect,"…

This oral history is one in a series that looks at the history of the Toxic Substances Control Act from the perspectives of the individuals involved in its creation, implementation, and execution.

Glenn E. Schweitzer…

Frank R. Nissel begins the interview by describing his early childhood and schooling in Berlin, Germany, and subsequent move to Egypt due to the emergence of Adolf Hitler's policies. Arriving in Egypt at the age of…

Theo Colborn was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1927. The area was rural, and she lived on a farm until she was five years old. Her father worked as a traveling cookie salesman. The family moved to East Orange, New…

Isy Haas was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He and his parents were Jewish and Polish citizens, not automatically Turkish. They spoke French and German until World War II, when they ceased speaking German. Haas attended a…

Maxine Savitz was born in 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents had both been born in the United States; her father’s family was from Ukraine, and her mother’s family was from Russia. The oldest of three children,…

O. David Sparkman grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, one of two children. His father managed a refrigeration supply company and then owned a restaurant; his mother was a stenographer and then an office…

Herbert T. Pratt was born in Leaksville, North Carolina (now Eden, North Carolina) in 1926. An only child, Pratt grew up surrounded by books. His parents valued history, and he relays stories of his grandfather, Josiah…

Robert Carpenter was born in San Diego, California, in 1945. He moved to South Bend, Indiana, where his father started a family bakery when he was an infant. When Carpenter was in elementary school, the family moved to…

In this interview Sidney Edelstein begins with his family life in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and includes his early education and experiences at the Baylor School in Chattanooga. He describes his undergraduate career at…

Gabriel Schmergel was born in 1940 in Budapest, Hungary. He immigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen shortly after the Soviet Union defeated the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. His parents worked manual labor…

At the request of the interviewee, the abstract of the interview and interviewee’s biographical data have not been included. For more information, please contact the Center for Oral History.

Vishva M. Dixit was born in Kisii, Kenya in 1956. His parents, who were originally from India, served as physicians in Kenya with the British Army, and they stayed in the country after their service. Dixit experienced…

Albert Eschenmoser begins the interview with a discussion of his early life and education. Born in Switzerland, he attended school in the canton of Uri. At the age of sixteen, he decided that he wanted to become a…

In this interview, Michael Szwarc begins with his early interest in science while growing up in Poland, leading to his studies at the Warsaw Polytechnic Institute. Szwarc next describes his experiences from 1935, when…

Barbara A. Schaal was born in 1947 in Berlin, Germany. In 1950 the family immigrated to the United States where they met her aunt and uncle (her father’s brother) in Chicago, Illinois. As Schaal grew up, she started to…

George A. Olah begins the interview with a description of his family and childhood years in Budapest, Hungary. Olah first developed an interest in chemistry after taking a chemistry course at the Technical University of…

Luis Proenza was born in 1944 in Mexico City, Mexico. When he was growing up, his parents ran a family business. He grew up in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and Acapulco, Mexico. Proenza remembers spending time by the ocean and…

Shirley Mahaley Malcom was born in 1946 in Birmingham, Alabama, which was a segregated city. She grew up in her grandmother’s house with her parents and sister and was surrounded by other family and a strong Black…

Thomas E. Lovejoy III was born in New York City, New York, in 1941. An only child, Lovejoy spent a year-and-a-half on the eastern shore of Maryland out in nature as a young child. His father ran a life insurance…

Norman R. Augustine was born on July 27, 1935, in Denver, Colorado. An only child, he grew up just about on the prairie and loved spending time in the nearby mountains. His father fought in World War I, and Augustine…

Rory Cooper was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1959 and grew up in San Luis Obispo, California. His father was a model maker, in the United States Army Reserve, and later, a professor of biology and agriculture at…

Paul Weisz begins his oral history interview by discussing his family background in Austria-Hungary after World War I period, when his family moved to Berlin. Weisz was educated in the Gymnasium, where he developed an…

Robert Kennedy begins the interview with a discussion of his family and growing up in Pittsburgh and New York. Kennedy initially considered a career in journalism, but his family persuaded him to pursue engineering. He…