Robert W. Cairns (1909-1985) was an American chemist who worked at

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

and at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He contributed to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

technological advances in explosives.

Biography

Cairns was born in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of th ...

. He was the son of William Cairns, an

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of highe ...

mathematics professor. He received an AB from Oberlin College in 1930 and a PhD from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1932. He attended the six-week advanced management program at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

.National Academy of Engineering biography
"Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering," Volume 3 (1989), pp. 68-72 He was appointed director of research in 1955 at Hercules Research Center, was elected to the board of directors in 1960 and in 1967, he became vice-president. In 1968, he was appointed president of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

and then in 1972 named executive director. After retiring from Hercules in 1971, he became deputy assistant secretary for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Cairns led innovation in propellants for military rockets and in the photographic recording of explosive reactions. He then directed the role of Hercules as the major supplier to the U.S. military of these propellants. He died of pneumonia in 1985 at the age of 75.

Awards and honors

* Perkin Medal (1969) * Industrial Research Institute Medal (1974) * Chairman of American Section of the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-i ...

(1961-1962) * President of

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

(1975-1977)''Chemical and Engineering News'' article
"ACS's Cairns is new president of IUPAC," September 15, 1975, p. 8 * President of

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

Research Foundation * President of

Industrial Research Institute Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a division of the National Association of Manufacturers, a nonprofit association based in Washington, D. C., United States. IRI was founded as a private non-profit in 1938 and merged with the NAM in 2022. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Robert W. 1909 births 1985 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Delaware 20th-century American chemists Oberlin College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni