Dr. Turner Alfrey was a polymer chemist whose research was focused heavily on polymers, whether it be their kinetics, chemistry, or reactions. He was born in Siloam Springs,
Arkansas and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Alfrey received a BS in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1938, an MS in physical chemistry from
Washington University in St. Louis in 1949, and a PhD in polymer chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1943. Using this knowledge, he worked in industry
for most of his life, starting at Monsanto Chemical Company in 1943. He had a couple of brief stays as a professor at different schools, including at his alma mater, the
Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn from 1945-1950, where he wrote a seminal reference volume Mechanical Behavior of High Polymers, but he spent most of his life at
the Dow Chemical Company. He started working at Dow in 1950 and was the first to be named to the position of Research Scientist at Dow which, at the time, was the
highest research title in the company, ultimately becoming one of only five named Research Fellows.
Alfrey was awarded the medal as a result of his “…original papers on viscosity, thixotropy, and viscoelastic behavior. …He has a record as an enthusiastic teacher and lecturer.
The value of his achievements is further increased by his great knowledge of, and many contributions to, other branches of physical chemistry” (Rheology Bulletin, 1954).
He also was awarded the International Award in Polymer Chemistry from the Society of Plastics Engineers and the H.H. Dow Medal from the Dow Chemical Company.
For many years the Michigan Molecular Institute (MMI) at Michigan State University hosted a Visiting Professorship that hosted several Nobel Prize Winners and which was renamed
in Alfrey’s honor after his untimely death in 1981. After the MMI closed in 2015 the lectureship lay dormant for several years before being reinstituted at MSU St. Andrews in 2018.
Sources
Brown, Alfred E. Turner Alfrey Jr. 1918-1981. Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering; National Academies Press: Washington, D.C., 1984; Vol. 2, pp 2-5.
Go to volume link;
go to article link.
Rheology Bulletin Fall 1954, 23(2).
Also, Box 5, Folder 18. Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740.
Turner Alfrey. Prabook.
Go to link
(accessed July 2, 2018).
The Turner J. Alfrey Visiting Professorship. Wikipedia.
Go to link
(accessed Oct 1, 2018).
MIT Scholar Re-Launches Turner J. Alfrey Visiting Professorship. MSU St. Andrews.
Go to link.