Oral history interview with Gilbert J. Stork
- 1991-Aug-06

Gilbert Stork begins his interview with a description of his childhood and family background in Paris. Stork and his family moved to the United States in 1939, and he decided to begin his graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Florida in 1940. There, Stork earned his B.S. in 1942, and in 1945, he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. While earning his Ph.D. at Wisconsin, he taught a section of the Army Special Training Program. Synthesis related to quinine and stereochemical control in synthesis highlighted Stork's graduate work and early career.
His first employment after receiving his Ph.D. was with Lakeside Laboratories, working on estrone synthesis. There, Stork also began work on hydrogenation techniques. Stork left Lakeside in 1946 and began an instructorship at Harvard University. While at Harvard, he also consulted for the Syntex Corporation. In 1953, Stork left Harvard and joined the faculty of Columbia University as an associate professor, where he continued his organic synthesis research. Next, Stork worked on polyene cyclization and enamine alkylation while continuing his synthesis work. Stork concludes the interview with a discussion of various developments in organic chemistry, the future of university research funding, and memorable students and co-workers.
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Rights | Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License |
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About the Interviewers
James J. Bohning was professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he had been a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was CHF’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. Bohning passed away in September 2011.
Leonard Fine is professor of chemistry and director of undergraduate studies in chemistry at Columbia University. His special interests include polymer chemistry and materials science, industrial inorganic and organic chemistry, engineering plastics, problems in solid waste management and the recovery and recycling of post-consumer plastics. Among his recent publications are two practical manuals on principles and practices of infrared spectroscopy and a general chemistry textbook for engineers and scientists. He holds a BS in chemistry from Marietta College and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Maryland at College Park.
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Oral history number | 0100 |
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Interviewee biographical information
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Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
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1942 | University of Florida | BS | Chemistry |
1945 | University of Wisconsin--Madison | PhD | Organic Chemistry |
Professional Experience
Lakeside Laboratories
- 1945 to 1946 Senior Research Chemist
Harvard University
- 1946 to 1948 Instructor
- 1948 to 1953 Assistant Professor
Columbia University
- 1953 to 1955 Associate Professor
- 1955 to 1967 Professor
- 1967 to 1997 Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
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1957 | Award in Pure Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
1959 | Guggenheim Foundation Fellow |
1961 | DSc (honorary), Lawrence University |
1961 | Baekeland Medal, North Jersey Section, American Chemical Society |
1962 | Harrison Howe Award |
1966 | Edward Curtis Franklin Memorial Award, Stanford University |
1967 | Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
1971 | Gold Medal, Synthetic Organic Chemical Manuufacturers Association |
1973 | Nebraska Award |
1978 | Roussel Prize, Paris |
1979 | DSc (honorary), Université Pierre et Marie Curie |
1980 | Nichols Medal, New York Section, American Chemical Society |
1982 | Edgar Fahs Smith Award, Philadelphia Section, American Chemical Society |
1982 | Willard Gibbs Medal, Chicago Section, American Chemical Society |
1982 | Award in Chemical Sciences, National Academy of Sciences |
1982 | DSc (honorary), University of Rochester |
1983 | National Medal of Science |
1983 | Pauling Award |
1985 | Tetrahedron Prize |
1986 | Remsen Award, Maryland Section, American Chemical Society |
1986 | Cliff S. Hamilton Award, Nebraska |
1987 | Monie A. Ferst Award and Medal, Georgia Tech |
1988 | DSc (honorary), Emory University |
1991 | Roger Adams Award |
1992 | George Kenner Award, Liverpool |
1992 | Robert Robinson Lectureship Award, UK |
1992 | DSc (honorary), Columbia University |
1993 | Robert A. Welch Award |
1996 | Wolf Prize, Israel |
1997 | DSc (honorary), University of Wisconsin |
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stork_g_0100_updated_full.pdf
The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.