Inventory to the Percy Lavon Julian Family Papers

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Percy Lavon Julian Family Papers
Series III: Folder 20
Julian Memorial Lecture: Norman C. Craig
December 5, 1996

     Norman C. Craig began his career in chemistry as an undergraduate student at Oberlin College, receiving his B.A.. degree there in 1953 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. In that year he received a NSF Predoctoral Fellowship, completing his Ph.D. under George Kistiakowsky of Harvard on enzyme kinetics in 1957. He was immediately appointed to the Oberlin Chemistry staff in 1957, and has remained at his Alma Mater for his entire professional career. He is currently Professor of Chemistry and Robert and Eleanor Biggs Professor of Natural Science.

     During these past thirty-nine years, Dr. Craig has taught general chemistry, physical chemistry, and environmental chemistry, plus a dynamic program of research with his students. His work has been focused on the vibrational spectroscopy of small molecules, especially organic ions and organofluorine compounds. Of his many research papers, 41 have been co-authored by a total of 54 undergraduate research students at Oberlin.

     In 1987 he received a Manufacturing Chemists Association Catalyst Award for excellence in chemistry teaching, and in 1996 the American Chemical Society Award for research in an undergraduate institution.

     During these years he has at times been on leave from his institution to do research with John Overend of the University of Minnesota (1963-64), with C. Bradly Moore at Berkeley (1971-71), with Thomas Spiro's research program at Princeton in 1974-75. His latest work was with Robert Kuczkowski of Michigan in the fall of 1993 and with Manfred and Brenda Winnewisser at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany in the spring of 1994.

     Dr. Craig has been active in the affairs of the American Chemical Society, serving on such committees as the Advisory Board of the Petroleum Research Fund, The Committee on Professional Training, The Advisory Committee for Science and Engineering Education, Directorate of the National Science Foundation, and on the Advisory Board of the NSF- sponsored Project Kaleidoscope. He is a member of the 1992 ACS Task Force on "Study Abroad", and of the 1992 ACS Task Force on "The Definition of Scholarship in Chemistry". Dr. Craig has authored a thermodynamics text and is co-authored of a General Chemistry Laboratory Manual, plus a total of 15 papers on aspects of chemical education. He is truly one of America's leading chemical educators.