Overview: James Bryant Conant (1893-1978) was a chemist, educator and public servant. The wide variety of his interests and occupations are reflected in the title of his memoirs, My Several Lives. Conant's "several lives" included periods as a Harvard University chemistry professor, Harvard University president, national director of defense research, ambassador to Germany and as an author of critical works examining secondary education in the United States. This collection documents professional...

Overview: Theodore William Richards (1868-1928), Harvard's first Nobel Laureate and first American recipient of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, received his A.B. from Harvard in 1886 and his A.M. and Ph.D. in 1888. He taught chemistry at Harvard from 1891 to 1928, becoming the Erving Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Wolcott Gibbs Memorial Laboratory in 1912. The Papers of Theodore William Richards document his professional and personal life. Professional papers include correspondence, teaching...