William Summer Johnson (February 24, 1913 – August 19, 1995) was an American chemist and teacher. From 1940 to 1958, Johnson was an instructor and then professor at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. In 1958, he moved to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where he spent the remainder of his scientific career. He did important research in the artificial production of

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...

s and was awarded the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

in 1987. The

Lemieux–Johnson oxidation The Lemieux–Johnson or Malaprade–Lemieux–Johnson oxidation is a chemical reaction in which an olefin undergoes oxidative cleavage to form two aldehyde or ketone units. The reaction is named after its inventors, Raymond Urgel Lemieux and Will ...

, in which an

olefin In organic chemistry, an alkene is a hydrocarbon containing a carbon–carbon double bond. Alkene is often used as synonym of olefin, that is, any hydrocarbon containing one or more double bonds.H. Stephen Stoker (2015): General, Organic, an ...

is converted into two

aldehyde In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl grou ...

ketone In organic chemistry, a ketone is a functional group with the structure R–C(=O)–R', where R and R' can be a variety of carbon-containing substituents. Ketones contain a carbonyl group –C(=O)– (which contains a carbon-oxygen double bo ...

fragments, is named after him and

Raymond Lemieux Raymond Urgel Lemieux, Order of Canada, CC, Alberta Order of Excellence, AOE, Royal Society, FRS (June 16, 1920 – July 22, 2000) was a Canadians, Canadian organic chemist, who pioneered many discoveries in the field of chemistry, his first and ...

Education

*PhD,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(1940) *AM, Harvard University *BA, magna cum laude,

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

(1936)

Awards

* 1968

William H. Nichols Medal The William H. Nichols Medal is awarded annually for original research in chemistry. Nominees must have made a "significant and original contribution in any field of chemistry" during the five years preceding the presentation date. The medallist ...

* 1987

* 1989

Arthur C. Cope Award The Arthur C. Cope Award is a prize awarded for achievement in the field of organic chemistry research. It is sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund, and has been awarded annually since 1973 by the American Chemical Society. It consists of $25,000, ...

. *1991 Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry & BioMedicinal Chemistry

References

External links

*
Memorial biography at Stanford UniversityNational Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
1913 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American chemists National Medal of Science laureates Amherst College alumni Harvard University alumni {{US-chemist-stub