[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 4, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO NOYES LABORATORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-
                               CHAMPAIGN

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                        HON. TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 4, 2002

  Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to take this 
time to recognize Noyes Laboratory at the University of Illinois at 
Urbana-Champaign. The building was named in honor of Professor William 
Albert Noyes, head of the Department of Chemistry from 1907-1926. 2002 
marks the Centennial occupancy of Noyes Laboratory as the home of the 
School of Chemical Sciences, and I am proud to represent what has 
become a celebrated institution for the University, and for the 15th 
district of Illinois.
  Upon its completion in 1902, it was the largest and best-equipped 
laboratory in the world. It represented a groundbreaking design that 
has provided diverse research and teaching environments for hundreds of 
faculty and many thousands of students in all areas of chemical 
sciences. Although predominantly home to the Department of Chemistry, 
Noyes Laboratory has also housed the Departments of Biochemistry, 
Chemical Engineering, Bacteriology, and Illinois State Water Survey. 
Hence Noyes Laboratory became one of America's first and most 
productive institutes for interdisciplinary research. Ten Nobel Prize 
winners have worked or studied at Noyes Laboratory. St. Elmo Brady, 
Ph.D. 1916, was the first African-American Ph.D. chemist in the United 
States and did his thesis work in Noyes Lab. To follow that, twelve 
thousand bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. degrees have been earned by 
students working in this prestigious building.
  Among the unprecedented discoveries made in Noyes Lab during the past 
century are the following: development of NMR spectroscopy as a tool 
for chemists (Herbert Gutowsky), the elucidation of a theory of 
electron transfer (Rudy Marcus), the development of Fourier-transform 
microwave spectrometry (Willis Flygare), the founding of coordination 
chemistry in the United States (John C. Bailar, Jr.), the field of 
chemical information (Marion Sparks), and synthesis of chloroquine and 
related antimaterials (Nelson Leonard, C.C. Price, and H.R. Snyder), 
key aspects of the development of synthetic rubber (Carl S. Marvel), 
amino acid threonine (William C. Rose), the chemical synthesis of 
threonine (Herbert F. Carter), the identification of the active 
ingredients in marijuana (Roger Adams), seminal studies on air 
pollution (h. Fraser Johnstone), the synthetic sweetener sodium 
cyclamate (Ludwig Audrieth and Michael Sveda), lipoic acid (Irwin C. 
Gunsulas), the aerosol can (G. Frederick Smith), high-intensity X-ray 
tubes (George L. Clarke), and modem instrumental analytical chemistry 
(Howard V. Malmstadt).
  After World War I, Organic Chemical Manufacturers set up in Noyes Lab 
and established Eastman Organic Chemicals which led to an important 
book series; ``Organic Synthesis,'' ``Organic Reactions,'' ``Inorganic 
Synthesis,'' and ``Chemical Reviews.''
  Research and teaching by those who worked in Noyes Laboratory has 
contributed in a fundamental way to our understanding of chemistry, 
chemical engineering, and biochemistry. It is my hope that my 
colleagues of the United States Congress will join me in honoring Noyes 
Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the 
contribution of success in research and discovery to our nation for the 
past century.

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