Melville Lawrence Wolfrom (April 2, 1900 – June 20, 1969) was an American chemist.

Early life, education, and career

Melville Wolfrom's grandfather Johann Lorenz Wolfrum immigrated to the United States from

Aš Aš (; ) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Aš consists of nine municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Aš (11, ...

in 1854, and was of

Sudeten German German Bohemians ( ; ), later known as Sudeten Germans ( ; ), were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Before 1945, over three million German Bohemians constitu ...

descent. His son Friedrich (Frederick) Wolfrum married Maria Louisa Sutter. Melville Wolfrom was born on April 2, 1900, the youngest of nine children. His father died when Melville was seven years old. Three of his brothers acquired a patent for a horse harness snap, and as a teen, Melville helped manufacture them out of the family home. He graduated from Ohio's Bellevue High School in 1917 as salutatorian and began working for the

National Carbon Company The National Carbon Company was a dominant American manufacturer of batteries and lighting products in the early 20th century. It was the first company to successfully manufacture and distribute sealed dry cell batteries on a large scale. It was fo ...

. A year later, Wolfrom enrolled at

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

. He dropped out of the university and the Students' Army Training Corps after November 1918. In 1919, Wolfrom returned to school at

Washington Square College The New York University College of Arts and Science (CAS) is the primary liberal arts college of New York University (NYU). The school is located near Gould Plaza next to the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Stern School of Bus ...

, only to drop out a second time. He was admitted to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1920. Upon graduation in 1924, Wolfrom turned to graduate school at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he earned a master's and doctoral degree in 1925 and 1927, respectively. Wolfrom's postdoctoral studies were funded by the National Research Council. Wolfrom worked with Claude Hudson and

Phoebus Levene Phoebus Aaron Theodore Levene (25 February 1869 – 6 September 1940) was a Russian-born American biochemist who studied the structure and function of nucleic acids. He characterized the different forms of nucleic acid, DNA from RNA, and foun ...

before returning to Ohio State in 1928.Alt URL
/ref> Wolfrom formally joined the OSU faculty in 1929 as an instructor. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1930, followed by an associate professorship in 1936. Wolfrom was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1939, and attained full professorship in 1940. In 1950, Wolfrom became the first member of OSU's Department of Chemistry faculty to be elected to membership within the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. He was followed by

Melvin Spencer Newman Melvin Spencer Newman (March 10, 1908 – May 30, 1993) was an American chemist, Ohio State University professor, best known for inventing the Newman projection. Newman was born in New York City in a Jewish family, the youngest of Mae (née P ...

in 1956. Wolfrom was appointed to a Regents' Professorship in 1965.

Personal life and legacy

Wolfrom married Agnes Louise Thompson on June 1, 1926. The couple had five children. Frederick died in infancy, and was followed by Eva Magdalena, twins Anne Marie and Betty Jane, and Carl Thompson. Melville Wolfrom died of a heart attack on June 20, 1969 at Ohio State University Hospital. The Melville L. Wolfrom Award given by 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 ...

is named for him. The Newman and Wolfrom Laboratory of Chemistry at Ohio State University was named for Wolfrom and Melvin Spencer Newman on November 3, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfrom, Melville 1900 births 1969 deaths People from Bellevue, Ohio 20th-century American chemists Scientists from Ohio Case Western Reserve University alumni Ohio State University alumni Ohio State University faculty New York University College of Arts & Science alumni American people of German descent People of Sudeten German descent Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences