Herbert Charles Brown
| Herbert C. Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | Herbert Brovarnik May 22, 1912 London, England, UK |
| Died | December 19, 2004 (aged 92) Lafayette, Indiana, USA |
| Nationality | USA |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions |
University of Chicago, Purdue University |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Doctoral advisor | Hermann Irving Schlesinger |
| Known for | Organoboranes |
| Influenced |
Akira Suzuki Ei-ichi Negishi |
| Notable awards |
National Medal of Science (1969) Elliott Cresson Medal (1978) Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1979) Priestley Medal (1981) Perkin Medal (1982) AIC Gold Medal (1985) NAS Award in Chemical Sciences (1987) |
| Spouse | Sarah Baylen (1937–2004; his death; 1 child) |
Herbert Charles Brown (May 22, 1912 – December 19, 2004) was an English-born American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes.
Brown was born Herbert Brovarnik in London, to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants from Zhitomir, Pearl (née Gorinstein) and Charles Brovarnik, a hardware store manager and carpenter. He moved to the Chicago in June 1914, at the age of two. Brown attended Crane Junior College in Chicago, where he met Sarah Baylen, who he would later marry. The college closed soon after, and Brown and Baylen transferred to Wright Junior College. In 1935 he left Wright Junior College and that autumn entered the University of Chicago, completed two years of studies in three quarters, and earned a B.S. in 1936. That same year, he became a naturalized United States citizen. On February 6, 1937, Brown married Baylen, the person he credits with making him interested in hydrides of boron, a topic related to the work in which he, together with Georg Wittig, won the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 1979. Two years after starting graduate studies, he earned a Ph.D. in 1938, also from the University of Chicago.
Unable to find a position in industry, he decided to accept an offer for a position as a post-doctorate. This became the beginning of his academic career. He became an instructor at the University of Chicago in 1939, and held the position for four years before moving to Wayne University in Detroit as an assistant professor. In 1946, he was promoted to an associate professor. He became a professor of inorganic chemistry at Purdue University in 1947 and joined the Beta Nu Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma there in 1960. He held the position of Professor Emeritus from 1978 until his death in 2004. The Herbert C. Brown Laboratory of Chemistry was named after him on Purdue University's campus. He was an honorary member of the International Academy of Science.
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