Melvin Spencer Newman
Melvin Spencer Newman(March 10, 1908 – May 30, 1993) was an Americanchemist,Ohio State Universityprofessor, best known for inventing theNewman projection.
Newman was born in New York City in aJewishfamily, the youngest of Mae (née Polack) and Jacob K. Newman's four children.[1]His paternal grandfather was theNew OrleansGerman-born investment banker and philanthropist Isidore Newman.
Shortly after his birth, his family moved toNew Orleans,Louisiana. When he was 14, they moved back to New York, where he attendedRiverdale County School.From 1925 to 1932, he attendedYale University,where he obtained hisB.A.magna cum laudein 1929 and his PhD in 1932, under the direction of Professor Rudolph J. Anderson. He was a member ofZeta Beta Tau.
Afterpostdoctoralstays at Yale,Columbia UniversityandHarvard University,he began his independent career as an instructor atOhio State University,where he remained for the rest of his life. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1940 and to full professor in 1944.
He was a member ofSigma Xi,Phi Lambda Upsilon,Alpha Epsilon Delta,American Chemical Societyand theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.He was elected a member of theNational Academy of Sciencesin 1956.[2]
Newman received numerous awards, including theAmerican Chemical Society(ACS) Award for Creative Work in SyntheticOrganic Chemistryin 1961, theMorley Medalgiven by theCleveland,Ohio section of the ACS in 1969, theWilbur Lucius Cross Medalby Yale in 1975, an honorary doctorate by theUniversity of New Orleansin 1975, theColumbussection of the ACS award in 1976, and the Joseph Sullivant Medal byOhio State Universityin 1976.[3]In addition, theNewman projection- which allows organic chemists to represent different conformations of molecules in space - was introduced by the chemist.
Newman was an avid golfer.
Newman married Beatrice Crystal in 1933. They had two daughters and two sons: Kiefer, Susan, Beth and Robert.
His sister Alice Louis wasNicolai Berezowsky's first wife.[1]
See also
[edit]- theNewman-Kwart rearrangement,a reaction named after Newman andHarold Kwart
References
[edit]- ^ab"Newman, Jacob K.," in: James Terry White,The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography,v. 33, New York: J. T. White, 1947, p. 183.
- ^"Melvin S. Newman".U.S. National Academy of Sciences.RetrievedJune 8,2011.
- ^"Joseph Sullivant Medal Awards".Ohio State University.RetrievedJune 8,2011.
- Paquette, L. A.; Orchin, M."Melvin Spencer Newman",inNational Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: Biographical Memoirs,vol.73,335-348. National Academy Press,1998.
- "Newman, Melvin Spencer," in: William Haynes (ed.),Chemical Who's who,vol. 3, 1951, p. 545.