The Willard Gibbs Award, presented by the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society, was established in 1910 by William A. Converse (1862–1940), a former Chairman and Secretary of the Chicago Section of the society and named for Professor Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903) of Yale University. Gibbs, whose formulation of the phase rule founded a new science, is considered by many to be the only American-born scientist whose discoveries are as fundamental in nature as those of Newton and Galileo.
The purpose of the award is "To publicly recognize eminent chemists who, through years of application and devotion, have brought to the world developments that enable everyone to live more comfortably and to understand this world better." Medalists are selected by a national jury of eminent chemists from different disciplines. The nominee must be a chemist who, because of the preeminence of their work in and contribution to pure or applied chemistry, is deemed worthy of special recognition.
The award consists of an eighteen-carat gold medal having, on one side, the bust of J. Willard Gibbs, for whom the medal was named. On the reverse is a laurel wreath and an inscription containing the recipient's name.
Mr. Converse supported the award personally for a number of years, and then established a fund for it in 1934 that has subsequently been augmented by the Dearborn Division of W. R. Grace & Co. When Betz purchased the Dearborn/Grace division, the BetzDearborn Foundation had most generously continued the historic relationship between the Section and Dearborn. J. Fred Wilkes and his wife have also made considerable contributions to the award. However, since General Electric purchased Betz/Dearborn these companies are no longer contributing to the Willard Gibbs Medal Fund.
List of winners
Svante Arrhenius 1911 Theodore William Richards 1912 Scientific address: "Atomic Weights" Leo H. Baekeland 1913 Ira Remsen 1914 Address: "The Development of Chemical Research in America" Arthur Amos Noyes 1915 Willis R. Whitney 1916 Edward W. Morley 1917 Address: "Early Researches in Hydrogen and Oxygen" William M. Burton 1918 Address: "Chemistry in the Petroleum Industry" William A. Noyes 1919 Address: "Positive and Negative Valences" F. G. Cottrell 1920 Address: "International Scientific Relations" Mme. Marie Curie 1921 Julius Stieglitz 1923 (no award in 1922) Gilbert N. Lewis 1924 Moses Gomberg 1925 Sir James Colquhoun Irvine 1926 Address: "Progress in the Structure Study of Carbohydrates (1901-1926)" John Jacob Abel 1927 William Draper Harkins 1928 Address: "Surface Structure and Atom Building" Claude Silbert Hudson 1929 Irving Langmuir 1930 Phoebus A. Levene 1931 Scientific address: "Chemical Structure and Optical Activity" Edward Curtis Franklin 1932 Scientific address: "The Ammonia System of Compounds" Richard Willstätter 1933 Harold Clayton Urey 1934 Scientific address: "The Significance of the Hydrogen Isotopes" Charles August Kraus 1935 Scientific address: "The Present State of the Problem of Electrolytes" Roger Adams 1936 Scientific address: "The Preparation and Study of Deuterium Compounds of the Type R1R2CHD" Herbert Newby McCoy 1937 Scientific address: "The Separation of Europium from Other Rare Earths and the Properties of the Compounds of This Element" Robert R. Williams 1938 Scientific address: "The Chemistry and Biological Significance of Thiamin" Donald Dexter Van Slyke 1939 Scientific address: "Renal Mechanisms Controlling Blood Composition" Vladimir Ipatieff 1940 Scientific address: "Mixed Catalysis" Edward A. Doisy 1941 Scientific address: "Recent Developments in the Investigation of Vitamin K and Other Anti-Hemorrhagic Compounds" Thomas Midgley Jr. 1942 Scientific address: "A Critical Examination of Some Concepts in Rubber Chemistry" Conrad A. Elvehjem 1943 "For studies involving trace elements in nutrition, tissue respiration in relation to vitamin function, and the B-vitamins; for discovering the identity of nicotinic acid as the antipelagra vitamin; and for demonstrating outstanding leadership in nutritional chemistry in the United States this 32nd Willard Gibbs Medal Award is made" George O. Curme Jr. 1944 Scientific address: "Chemistry for the Many" Frank C. Whitmore 1945 Scientific address: "Peace to War and Back Again" Linus Pauling 1946 "...for eminent work and original contributions in chemistry and related scientific fields, through the determination of many molecular structures, inter-atomic distances, bond angles, and covalent radii of atoms; for quantitation of the classical theory of electronegativity; for extension and application of the resonance principle to chemistry; and for the formulation of a framework theory of antibody formation." Wendell M. Stanley 1947 "For his outstanding contributions to the chemistry of viruses beginning with the isolation of tobacco virus and its characterization as a nucleoprotein; for the isolation of other viruses such as cucumber mosaic, alfalfa mosaic, tobacco necrosis, jaundice of silkworms ... with their identification as distinct nucleoproteins; and for distinguished research on the influence virus with subsequent development of vaccines" Carl F. Cori 1948 "...in recognition of his many fundamental contributions to the chemistry of carbohydrate metabolism - notably his discovery of glucose-1-phosphate (the Cori ester), his isolation of crystalline muscle phosphorylase and the elucidation of the role played by these substances in the enzymatic synthesis of glycogen; his studies on the regulatory effects of the pituitary, pancreatic, and adrenal cortical hormones on glucose utilization; and his investigations concerning the energetics of carbohydrate transformations" Peter J. W. Debye 1949 "For basic and highly original researches in chemistry and related sciences. His contributions include major advances in: the theory of specific heats, the theory of the relation of dipole moment to molecular configuration, the determination of structures of crystals by means of X-rays diffracted by fine powders, the elucidation of the structures of molecules by X-ray diffraction and by electron diffraction, the use of adiabatic demagnetization for the production of low temperature, the use of scattered light and viscosity for the estimation of sizes and shapes of larger molecules and colloidal particles, and the mathematical formulation of the theory of inter ionic forces within electrolytic solutions" Carl S. Marvel 1950 "...for fundamental and highly original researches in organic chemistry. He has made outstanding contributions in many fields, among which are the following: the synthesis of amino acids, the structure of assocs. compounds, the use of magnetic susceptibilities in measuring the degree of dissociation of hexarylethanes, the comparison of hexaethynylethanes with hexarylethanes, the interpretation in terms of hydrogen bonding of the solubility of organic compounds in organic solvents, sodium catalyzed copolymerization of styrene and butadiene, the structure of urea-formaldehyde polymers and of vinyl polymers, a novel method of producing polyalkylene sulfides, the preparation and structure of sulfur dioxide-olefin polymers, the variation of the properties of butadiene-styrene copolymers with the structure of the monomers, and reactions of polymeric molecules." William Francis Giauque 1951 "...for extending science into the hitherto unattained region approaching the absolute zero of temperature and thereby contributing notably to fundamental thermodynamic theory and practice: attainment and measurement of temperatures just above absolute zero by highly original and skillful means; measurement and calculation of entropies and other important reports of substances at these temperatures, resulting directly in the verification of the third law of thermodynamics and in the resolution of the critical discrepancy in the entropies of hydrogen and incidentally in the discovery of the heavy isotopes of oxygen..." William C. Rose 1952 "For renowned contributions to the biochemistry of proteins, for sustained and ingenious research into the role of amino acids in metabolism and nutrition, for isolation and identification of threonine - the final essential amino acid that permitted rearing animals on diets of completely defined composition, for demonstration of important metabolic interrelationships of amino acids, and for measurement of the amino acid requirements of animals and men." Joel H. Hildebrand 1953 ".....world-renowned teacher of chemistry, formulator of wise educational policy, important and far-seeing military and government advisor in both World Wars I and II. In appreciation for these services, and in recognition of his fundamental contribution to the physical chemistry of solubility, his definition of the field, his continuing leadership for nearly forty years, his elucidation of the principles of solubility, his many important experimental data in the field, and his lucid exposition in the two editions of his book on the subject." Elmer K. Bolton 1954 "As one of the founders of the technology of the American dyestuffs industry, who served for fifteen years in responsible charge of the development of processes for the manufacture of dyestuffs, of tetraethyl lead, and other organic compounds, and who for another twenty-one years was the director of the research organization that was responsible for many significant advances, among the most noteworthy of which were neoprene and nylon" Farrington Daniels 1955 "In recognition of his brilliant and diversified contributions to chemical kinetics, photochemistry, isotopic reactions and atomic power, solar energy, thermoluminescence, and other branches of physical chemistry; of his devotion to the education and inspiration of students of chemistry; and of his services to the welfare of his fellow men and fellow chemists throughout the world" Vincent du Vigneaud 1956 "For outstanding contributions to chemistry by virtue of his researches on metabolism of sulfur compounds, the mechanism of transmethylation, the isolation and characterization of biotin, the protein nature of insulin and the characterization and synthesis of hormones of the pituitary gland, and for the training and inspiration of students of biochemistry" W. Albert Noyes Jr. 1957 (son of William A. Noyes) "For outstanding accomplishments in the administration of great scientific societies and of important defense agencies of his country; for competent and effective advice to government in time of peace; for inspiring teaching and wise counsel of students; for his many personal services to sciences and scientists of all nations; for his own basic researches in electrochemistry, fluorescence, spectroscopy, and reaction kinetics; but especially for imaginative and critical inquiries into the mechanisms of chemical reactions, as exemplified by his fundamental contributions toward the identification and understanding of 'primary photochemical processes''' " Willard F. Libby 1958 "For initiation of the study of radioactive material produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere of the earth; for development of the technique of radiocarbon dating of archeological and geographic events, and of the use of tritium for following meteorological and geophycial processes; for outstanding pioneer work in the application of radioactivity to chemical and other scientific problems." Hermann I. Schlesinger 1959 "For outstanding accomplishments in the field of inorganic chemistry; for pioneering studies in the field of boron chemistry; for the discovery of simple chemical methods for the synthesis of diborane; for the discovery of metal borohydrides; and the elaboration of practical procedures for their preparation; for the discovery of the outstandingly important reagent lithium aluminum hydride."