Oral history interview with Leo H. Sternbach
- 1986-Mar-12
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Leo H. Sternbach begins the interview with a discussion of his family and childhood in Austria and Poland. He describes his early education during the First World War as well as his experiences working in his father's pharmacy. After receiving his degree in pharmacy from Jagiellonian University in Cracow, he enrolled in a Ph.D. program in organic chemistry. As a result of intensifying anti-Semitism, he left Poland and went to Vienna, where he worked with Pauli and Fränkel, and then to Zürich to work with Ruzicka at the Swiss Federal Institute. After beginning work with Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel and marrying Herta Kreuzer, increasing pressure to leave Switzerland compelled him to emigrate to the United States, where he continued work with the company in Nutley, New Jersey and began a search for new tranquilizers. Sternbach recalls that he was instructed to terminate his study of benzodiazepines but continued the research unofficially, which led to his significant discoveries of Librium, Valium, and other related drugs. He concludes his interview with a brief summary of his accomplishments and his views on the present state of pharmaceutical research.
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About the Interviewer
Tonja A. Koeppel received a master’s degree in chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1944. Since then she has written about chemistry, done research, and taught college chemistry. Dr. Koeppel is also a historian of chemistry. In 1973 she earned a PhD degree in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. She is especially interested in the development of organic chemistry in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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| Oral history number | 0043 |
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Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
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| 1929 | Uniwersytet Jagielloński | MPharm | Pharmacy |
| 1931 | Uniwersytet Jagielloński | PhD | Organic Chemistry |
Professional Experience
Uniwersytet Jagielloński
- 1931 to 1937 Research Assistant with Professor K. Dziewonski
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
- 1937 to 1940 Research Fellow with Professor L. Ruzicka
Roche Diagnostics
- 1940 to 1941 Research Chemist (Basel, Switzerland)
- 1941 to 1959 Group Chief (Nutley, New Jersey)
- 1959 to 1965 Senior Group Chief (Nutley, New Jersey)
- 1965 to 1967 Section Chief (Nutley, New Jersey)
- 1966 to 1973 Director of Medicinal Chemistry (Nutley, New Jersey)
- 1973 to 1988 Consultant (Nutley, New Jersey)
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1971 | Honorary Doctor of Technical Sciences, Technical University, Vienna, Austria |
| 1977 | Outstanding Naturalized Citizen Award, Newark Chapter, Unico National |
| 1978 | Medicinal Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society, Division of Medicinal Chemistry |
| 1979 | Cecil Brown Lectureship, American Chemical Society, North Jersey Section |
| 1979 | Award for Creative Invention, American Chemical Society |
| 1979 | Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists |
| 1982 | John Scott Medal Award, Board of Directors of City Trusts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 1984 | Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture, University of Mississippi |
| 1984 | Honorary Doctor of Science, Centenary College, Hackettstown, New Jersey |
| 1984 | Carl-Mannich-Medal, German Pharmaceutical Society |
| 1986 | Honorary Dr. phil. nat. h. c. , Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universtät, Frankfurt am Main |
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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.