View XML QR Code

Paul Emmett Papers, 1918-2001

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Emmett, Paul H. (Paul Hugh), 1900-1985.
Title
Paul Emmett Papers
Dates
1918-2001 (inclusive)
Quantity
114 linear feet, (233 boxes)  :   ; 
Collection Number
MSS Emmett
Summary
Paul Emmett (1900-1985), a friend and colleague of Linus Pauling, graduated in 1922 from Oregon Agricultural College and completed his doctoral work on heterogeneous catalysis at Caltech in 1925. A major figure in the history of catalysis chemistry, Emmett was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1955 and worked at a handful of institutions, including The Johns Hopkins University, where he chaired the Chemical Engineering Department until his retirement in 1971. Special Collections houses Emmett's manuscripts, research notebooks, correspondence and awards.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions
Restrictions on Access

Permission to examine will be granted to qualified researchers upon completion of an "Application for Use" form, and contingent upon the researcher's agreement to abide by the rules and policies governing the use of manuscripts.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Paul Hugh Emmett was born in Portland, Oregon, on September 22, 1900. After completing his baccalaureate at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University), Emmett went on to the California Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. His studies brought him into contact with Drs. A. F. Benton and H. S. Taylor, who encouraged his work on catalysis. He was also a close friend of Linus Pauling at both institutions and, indeed, in 1976 Emmett married Pauling's sister, Pauline.

Dr. Emmett became chair of the Chemical Engineering Department at The Johns Hopkins University in 1937. In 1943 he left the university to join the staff of the Manhattan Project, where he was instrumental in developing a technique for the separation of Uranium-235 from U-238. Following a residency at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, Dr. Emmett returned to Johns Hopkins in 1955, as the W. R. Grace Professor in the Chemistry Department. He was active both nationally and internationally with various chemistry committees and conferences. Dr. Emmett’s contributions include the B.E.T. formula for calculating the surface area of a material from the amount of gas it adsorbs; work with ammonia and iron nitride; and many other detailed experiments.

Emmett retired from Johns Hopkins in 1971. "His 'retirement rocking chair,'" Burtron Davis points out, "was an appointment as research professor in the Chemistry Department at Portland State University, undertaking new research areas such as surface area of soils and the porosity of coals, presenting seminar talks, offering advanced courses in catalysis, consulting at W. R. Grace, Oak Ridge, and Mobil, reviewing manuscripts, publishing 12 papers with students and co-workers, frequent travel to national and international scientific meetings, receiving seven of his distinguished achievement awards, etc." In short, Dr. Emmett remained active up until his death, on April 22, 1985.

Interested readers are referred to Burtron Davis's article on Dr. Emmett in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 90, No. 20 (September 25, 1986): 4700-4705.

Return to Top

Historical Note

Return to Top

Content Description

Special Collections houses Dr. Emmett's laboratory notes, research notebooks and published conclusions from various experiments. Also included are his personal and professional correspondence, awards, lecture notes and an extensive collection of personal slides documenting his travels and home life.

Return to Top

Other Descriptive Information

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

Alternative Forms Available

Preferred Citation

Preferred Citation

Courtesy of the Paul Emmett Papers, Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections, Box #.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Emmett Papers are arranged into eight series. Materials in each series are organized either alphabetically, chronologically or by material type, as appropriate.

Preservation Note

Location of Originals

Custodial History

Custodial History

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information

Accessioned from the Emmett family in July 1987.

Processing Note

Processing Information

Final arrangement by Rachel West, Maarika Teose, Chris Petersen and John Ngo.

Future Additions

Future Additions

Processing Note

Processing Note

Separated Materials

Separated Materials

Related Materials

Related Materials

Emmett's contacts with Linus Pauling are further documented in the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, Correspondence Box 109.

Emmett's undergraduate physical chemistry work at Oregon Agricultural College is likewise detailed by Emmett's instructor Fred Allen in a notebook held in the Pauling Papers Biographical section, Box 1.005.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Catalysis--Experiments.
  • Catalysis--Industrial applications.
  • Catalysis--Research.
  • Catalysis.
  • Catalytic cracking.
  • Chemistry--Study and teaching (Higher)
  • Fischer-Tropsch process.
  • Heterogeneous catalysis.

Corporate Names

  • California Institute of Technology. Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
  • Johns Hopkins University.
  • Manhattan Project (U.S.)
  • Mellon Institute.
  • Oregon Agricultural College--Students.
  • Oregon State College. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.
  • Oregon State University--Alumni and alumnae.
  • Portland State University. Dept. of Chemistry.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Audiocassettes.
  • DVDs.
  • Glass negatives.
  • Lantern slides.
  • Motion pictures (visual work)
  • Photographic prints.
  • Slides.
  • Videotapes.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Benton, Arthur Ferguson, 1895- (creator)
    • Brunauer, Stephen. (creator)
    • Davis, Burtron H., 1934- (creator)
    • Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994. (creator)
    • Teller, Edward, 1908-2003. (creator)

    Corporate Names

    • Catalysis Society. (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Special Collections staff.
1999

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...