John H. Wotiz

John H. Wotiz (born April 12, 1919 in Ostrava , † August 21, 2000 in Morehead (Kentucky) ) was a Czech-American chemist in the field of organic chemistry and chemical historian.

Career

Wotiz began studying chemical engineering after graduating from high school in 1937 at the Technical University of Prague , but then fled the German occupation with his brother to the USA. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Furman University in 1941 and his master's degree from the University of Richmond in 1943 . At the end of World War II , he served two years in the United States Army as a lieutenant in chemical warfare . In 1944 he became a US citizen. In 1948 he received his PhD in chemistry with Melvin S. Newman at Ohio State University . He was then an instructor and from 1954 Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and in 1957 went into industry for the Diamond Alkali Company in Painesville . There he was involved in 44 patents. In 1962 he became a professor at Marshall University in Huntington , West Virginia , and in 1967 at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. In 1980 he was Chairman of the History Division of the American Chemical Society . From 1971 he organized trips to Europe on the history of chemistry from the USA . As a chemical historian, he dealt particularly with August Kekulé . He helped found the Chemical Heritage Foundation . In 1989 he retired. He advocated international exchange, particularly with Eastern Europe, and was involved in comparative studies of chemistry education in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Asia. He and his wife died in a car accident .

In 1982 he received the Dexter Award . In 1998 he received an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Ostrava and in 1982 he received its gold medal.

personal data
SURNAME	Wotiz, John H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American chemical historian and chemist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 12, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ostrava
DATE OF DEATH	August 21, 2000
Place of death	Morehead, Kentucky