Dr. Henry A. Hill Distinguished LectureDr. Henry Aaron Hill (1915 - 1979) Dr. Henry Aaron Hill, the renowned African American chemists in whose memory this Distinguished Lecture is established, was a former Chairman of the American Chemical Society Northeast Section (1963) and President of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1977. Dr. Hill’s outstanding contributions to chemistry, particularly industrial chemistry, and to the professional welfare of chemists are legendary. Dr. Hill’s first concern and interest was always in his fellow humans, and this was the driving force behind all that he did both in the chemical community and the world at large.
Henry Hill was a native of St. Joseph, Missouri. He was a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina and received a doctorate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1942. He began a professional career in industrial chemistry in that same year, with the North Atlantic Research Corporation in Newtonville, Massachusetts. He eventually rose to become vice-president, while continuing to conduct research and development on water-based plants, fire-fighting foam, and several types of synthetic rubber. After leaving North Atlantic Research, he worked as a group leader in the research laboratories of the Dewey and Almy Chemical Company before starting his own entrepreneurial venture—National Polychemicals in 1952. Ten years later he founded Riverside Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The firm offered research, development and consulting services in resins, rubbers, textiles, and polymer reduction. Riverside Research Laboratory introduced four successful commercial enterprises, including its own manufacturing affiliate. Dr. Hill, was appointed by President Lydon Johnson to the National Commission on Product Safety and became active in research and testing programs in the fields of product flammability and product safety. The ACS was always very close to Dr. Hill’s heart. His active career with the ACS began in the middle 1950s in the Northeastern Section. Dr. Hill served on various Northeastern Section committees, became a councilor in 1961, and was Chairman of the Section in 1963. He served the ACS in important national positions including secretary and chairman of the Professional Relations Committee, ACS Council, Policy Committee, Board of Directors and then ultimately serving as president in 1977. Dr. Henry Hill was the first African American to become president of the American Chemical Society. He made an especially significant impact in professional policy by pioneering establishment of a set of guidelines defining acceptable behavior for employers in their professional relations with chemists and chemical engineers. This effort resulted in the ACS landmark document entitled “Professional Employment Guidelines.” In recognition of his many outstanding achievements NOBCChE identifies an outstanding Scientist or Engineer to be designated as the Henry A. Hill Distinguished Lecturer.
This award is sponsored by the Northeast Section of the American Chemical Society and the MIT of Chemistry.
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