Thomas Wiggans grew up in Fredonia, Kansas, a small town with just a few thousand residents. Both his grandfather and father ran a local drugstore, which Wiggans worked in during his adolescence. This led to Wiggans not…

Garren Bohlin was a partner at Arthur Anderson LLP in 1980, where he did general business consulting. He was contacted by Mirza Mehdi of the Genetics Institute, who worked with Gabriel Schmergel. Mehdi asked Bohlin if…

Richard Stein starts this interview by reflecting on the New York City schools which provided a real stimulus, especially in mathematics and science, to him and his contemporaries. At Brooklyn Technical High School, he…

Jean S. Kane grew up mostly in Tenafly, New Jersey. Although her father was an accountant, Jean was the first in her family to attend college. She began at Keuka College, intending to get a nursing degree, but she…

Philip Eaton begins the interview with a description of his childhood, parents, and early education in Brooklyn, New York. At age seven, Eaton and his family relocated to Budd Lake, New Jersey, where he attended Roxbury…

O. Theodor Benfey begins the interview with a description of his childhood in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich. He tells of his experiences in England, where he was a student during the war, and then his move…

David M. Hercules begins his interview by discussing his childhood and education. He describes his youth in Somerset, Pennsylvania, and his childhood curiosity with science. When he was in high school, he continued to…

Michael R. Koelle was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico but was raised mainly in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of the family's three children. Both of his parents were German emigrants (his father as an infant, his…

Thomas C. Alber grew up as an American in post World War II Japan and had to deal with issues related to his bilingualism and biculturalism. After moving to Los Angeles with his mother in 1964, Alber was encouraged in…

Edgar Woolard begins the interview with a description of his family and childhood years in Washington, North Carolina. Woolard's parents encouraged him to excel in both academic and social environments. As a high-school…

Harold Shapiro was born on June 8, 1935, in Montréal, Quebec. His father immigrated to the United States from Odessa, Russia just prior to World War I as a metal worker, but spent most of his adult life as a bootlegger,…

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…