Homer Burton Adkins

Homer Burton Adkins
Homer Burton Adkins
Born	(1892-01-16)January 16, 1892 Newport, Ohio
Died	August 10, 1949(1949-08-10) (aged 57) St. Louis, Missouri
Nationality	American
Fields	Chemistry
Alma mater	Denison University

Homer Burton Adkins (16 January 1892 in Newport, Ohio – 10 August 1949 in Madison, Wisconsin) was an American chemist who studied the hydrogenation of organic compounds. Adkins was regarded as top in his field and a world authority on the hydrogenation of organic compounds. Adkins is known for his wartime work, where he experimented with agents and poisonous gasses. Renowned for his work, Adkins eventually suffered a series of heart attacks and died in 1949.

Adkins was born on January 16, 1892, in Newport, Ohio, the son of Emily (née Middleswart) and Alvin Adkins. He grew up on a farm with his brother and sister. After attending and finishing high school in Newport, he entered Denison University. Having a reputation as a tall and shy boy, Adkins graduated in three and a half years. Adkins then spent three years at Ohio State University. He took his Master's degree in 1916, and his Ph.D. in 1918, under the direction of William Lloyd Evans. After receiving his degree, he began work as a research chemist for the United States Department of War. In the following academic year, Adkins served as an instructor in organic chemistry at Ohio State University and in the summer of 1919 he was a research chemist with E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company.

In 1919, Adkins came to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He remained there each year until his death in 1949, except for two summers he spent working in industry at the Bakelite Corporation in 1924, and 1926 and for responsibilities from 1942 to 1945 as administrator and research director in the war program of the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Adkins was a lecturer to graduate students in a course entitled "Survey of Organic Chemistry," but he also kept contact with students in elementary and continued for most of the time to give lectures in the first course in organic chemistry.