News Archive

Rich Eisenberg 2013 Oesper Award Recipient

November 1, 2013

The Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society and Chemistry Department at the University of Cincinnati recently announced Rich Eisenberg as the 2013 Oesper Award Winner. The Oesper Award is given annually to recognize an outstanding chemist of our time for a lifetime of significant accomplishments in the field of chemistry with long lasting impact on the chemical sciences. Rich just recently received the Award when he spoke at the Symposium held in Cincinnati last week. Congratulations Rich!

Dr. Ralph Edward Oesper, born on June 14, 1886, in Cincinnati, Ohio, received his B.A. (1908), his M.A. (1909) and his Ph.D. (1914) degrees from the Chemistry Department at UC under Lauder William Jones. He was a prolific writer, publishing more than 300 papers in the fields of analytical, organic, and colloid chemistry and especially in the history of chemistry. He also used his mastery of the German language to translate nearly two dozen books in these fields, as well as countless articles. Oesper's many interests and activities, as well as his dedication to the University of Cincinnati, are reflected in his bequest to the Department of Chemistry, made in both his name and that of his wife, Helen Wilson Oesper. The bequest established the annual Oesper Symposium, a faculty position in Chemical Education and the History of Chemistry, a yearly departmental colloquium on the History of Chemistry, scholarships for outstanding high school chemistry students, and to purchase new additions of the Oesper Collection of Books and Prints in History of Chemistry. For more information on the Oesper Award and Symposium please use the link to the right.