Arthur Victor Tobolsky

Princeton University

1919 – September 7, 1972

Polymer Chemist

Awarded Bingham Medal 1956

Arthur V. Tobolsky was born in New York City and graduated from Columbia University with his undergraduate degree in 1940. He obtained his PhD from Princeton in 1944, where he studied under Henry Eyring and Hugh Stott Taylor on the topic of polymer science and studying the effects of various force fields on polymeric materials. After graduating with his PhD, Tobolsky continued his scientific career at his alma mater of Princeton from 1946-1972. He worked there until he died, with a short, one-year break as a professor of chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in the years of 1950-1951, where he taught physical chemistry.

A majority of Dr. Tobolsky’s work was on the viscoelasticity and rheology of polymers and how the underlying network structure of the polymer molecules related to the corresponding mechanical properties. He also touched upon the subjects of chemo-rheology and the relationships between polymer melt viscosity and the relaxation spectrum. This last item led to the discovery of the 3.4 power-dependence of melt viscosity to molecular weight and the principle of time-temperature superposition. Dr. Tobolsky was awarded the Bingham Medal for his work on polymerization mechanisms, the correlation of structure to properties of polymers, and his work as a teacher at Princeton.

Sources

Tobolsky, A. V. SPE International Award Paper. Polymer Engineering and Science 1970, 10(6), 317-319. Go to link.

In Memoriam Arthur Tobolsky. Go to link (accessed June 28, 2018).

Arthur Tobolsky, Chemist, Was 53. The New York Times; 8 September 1972, 37. Go to link (accessed July 2, 2018).

Rheology Bulletin Fall 1956, 25(3). Also, Box 5, Folder 23. Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740.

Photo Credit

Tobolsky Arthur A1, AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.