[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 28301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    HONORING DR. GEORGE RIEVESCHL, JR. AS THE CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM 
    INAUGURATES THE GEORGE RIEVESCHL MEDAL FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB PORTMAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 2, 1999

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my friend 
and distinguished constituent, Dr. George Rieveschl, Jr., as he 
receives the first George Rieveschl Medal for Distinguished Service 
from the Cincinnati Art Museum. This important new award will recognize 
individuals who demonstrate unselfish leadership, philantrophy, 
advocacy and innovation in service to one of America's premier art 
museums.
  Through Dr. Rieveschl's leadership, the Museum has regained its 
stature throughout the nation. His influence has touched all areas of 
the museum--management, governance, fundraising, and acquisitions. Dr. 
Rieveschl's leadership has resulted in such monumental achievements as 
the creation of the Founders Society to provide a core group of 
individual support; the capital campaign for gallery renovations and 
outreach programs; and the current initiative to acquire important art 
objects of Cincinnati collectors as millenium gifts. Dr. Rieveschl has 
led by example, generously assisting the Museum with his own 
philantrophy.
  Dr. Rieveschl graduated from the Ohio Mechanics Institute with a 
degree in Commercial Art in 1933. He received his A.B. with High Honors 
in Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1937, and went on to 
earn his M.S. and Ph.D. from U.C. In 1940, he began as an Instructor in 
Chemical Engineering at U.C. His loyalty and dedication to U.C. 
resulted in his selection to be Chairman of the Board of Trustees of 
the University of Cincinnati Foundation, a position from which he 
retired in 1981. During his career, Dr. Rieveschl held scientific 
research positions with Parke, Davis and the Carborundum Company. Dr. 
Rieveschl's laboratory research at U.C. resulted in the world's first 
effective antihistamine--named Benadryl by Dr. Rieveschl--which was 
approved for prescription sale in 1946. By the early 1960s, Benadryl's 
sales rose to $6 million per year. Benadryl was approved for over-the-
counter sale in the 1980s.
  In 1970, he returned to the University of Cincinnati to become Vice 
President for Research and Development and Adjunct Professor of 
Materials, and in 1972 became Vice President for Special Projects. The 
University of Cincinnati presented him with an honorary Doctor of 
Science degree in 1956.
  We congratulate Dr. Rieveschl on receiving this landmark honor, and 
are grateful for his many important contributions to medicine, to the 
Greater Cincinnati area, and to the Cincinnati Art Museum.

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