Donald Othmer
Donald Frederick Othmer ( born May 11, 1904 in Omaha, Nebraska, † November 1, 1995 in New York City ) was an American chemist and philanthropist.
Othmer 1924 received his degree in chemical engineering at the University of Nebraska in 1927 and his doctorate at the University of Michigan. 1927 to 1931 he worked at Eastman Kodak, where he received 40 patents ( under conversion of photographic films of cellulose nitrate to the less dangerous cellulose acetate), and from 1932 he taught at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. In 1961 he was there Distinguished Professor and 1976 he retired.
He was a successful consultant in the chemical industry and developed further patents (some with students who studied with him for higher degrees, while they were already working in the chemical industry ). Thanks to a clever investment ( they invested early on, even in the early 1960s in the funds of Warren Buffett, who was friends with them and also from Omaha native ) left the couple at the death of his second wife, Mildred Jane Topp 1998 $ 750 million, both largely in foundations docked. In addition to various universities ( the Polytechnic Institute, which was temporarily threatened by bankruptcy, received $ 175 million ) and for medical purposes such as Planned Parenthood - especially in the chronically underfunded Brooklyn - even in the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Therefore, a whole series, donated building, awards and scholarships are named after him.
He's in chemistry primarily known as a publisher ( with Raymond Eller Kirk ( 1890-1957 ), also at the Polytechnic Institute ) of the Kirk -Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, whose first volume appeared in 1947 and the first edition was in 1949 completely. In this area there was in front of comparing items only Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry in German language. The 5th edition was in 2007 with 27 volumes complete.
During his time at Eastman Kodak, he invented a later widely used lab equipment (English Othmer still) for easy and precise determination of the equilibrium data in vapor-liquid systems. He also made further contributions to the distillation technique.
In 1978 he received the Perkin Medal and the EV Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry and 1977 Chemical Pioneer Award. In 1987 he was awarded the prize of the New York mayor of Science and Technology.