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THE BECKMAN CENTER FOR THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY MAX TISHLER Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Leon Gortler and John A. Heitmann at The Library at Wesleyan University on 14 November 1983 This interview has been designated as Free Access. One may view, quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history with the permission of CHF. Please note: Users citing this interview for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the Chemical Heritage Foundation Oral History Program to credit CHF using the format below: Max Tishler, interview by Leon Gortler and John A. Heitmann at the Library at Wesleyan University, 14 November 1983 (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript # 0008). Chemical Heritage Foundation Oral History Program 315 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; encourages research in CHF collections; and carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society. MAX TISHLER 1906 Born in Boston, Massachusetts, 30 October Education 1928 B.S., chemistry, Tufts College 1933 M.A., chemistry, Harvard University 1934 Ph.D., organic chemistry, Harvard University Employment Department of Chemistry, Harvard University 1930-1934 Teaching fellow 1934-1936 Research associate 1936-1937 Instructor Merck & Company, Inc. 1937-1941 Research chemist 1941-1944 Section Head in charge of Process Development 1944-1953 Director of Development Research 1954-1956 Vice President and Executive Director of Science Activities 1957-1970 President, Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories 1962-1970 Member, Board of Directors 1969-1970 Senior Vice President of Research and Development Department of Chemistry, Wesleyan University 1970-1974 Professor 1972 University Professor of the Sciences 1973-1974 Chairman of the chemistry department 1974 Emeritus professor Honors 1953 Elected to National Academy of Sciences 1961 Medal of the Industrial Research Institute 1963 Rennebohm Lecture Award, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin 1963 Chemical Industry Award, Society of the Chemical Industry 1964 Lecture Award, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences 1964 Julius W. Sturmer Memorial Lecture Award, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy 1965 Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1968 Chemical Pioneer Award and Gold Medal Award, American Institute of Chemistry 1970 Joseph Priestley Medal, American Chemical Society 1972 Honorary Member, Societe Chimique de France 1974 Fellow, Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences ABSTRACT: This interview elucidates Max Tishler's life and career. Tishler reminisces about his family, early schooling, undergraduate education at Tufts, and graduate and postgraduate work at Harvard. He then discusses his impressions of colleagues at Harvard and the state of chemistry in the 1930s. The major portion of the interview contains Tishler's impressions of the research and development undertaken by Merck & Co. in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s and of his role in that activity. He also discusses individuals involved in that work and the major contributions that Merck & Co. made to combat disease. Tishler ends the interview by discussing his current activities at Wesleyan and by presenting his views about the future direction of chemistry. INTERVIEWERS: Leon Gortler is a chemist with an interest in history. Born in 1935, he attended the University of Chicago and then received his doctoral degree from Harvard. After doing postdoctoral work at Berkeley for a year, he began teaching at Brooklyn College in 1963. Ten years later, he became professor of chemistry. He has since coauthored two textbooks about organic chemistry. His historical and scientific research focus upon physical organic chemistry. John A. Heitmann holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Davidson College and a master's degree in history from Clemson University. From 1974 to 1979 he worked as a chemist in the metallurgical industry. He then studied at the Johns Hopkins University under Owen Hannaway and received his doctorate in the history of science in 1983. NOTE: The following table correlates the tapes of the Tishler interview with the pages of this transcript. Tape 1, side 1.............................pp. 1-8 side 2.............................pp. 8-17 Tape 2, side 1.............................pp. 17-27 side 2.............................pp. 27-35 Tape 3, side 1.............................pp. 35-45 side 2.............................pp. 45-54 Tape 4, side 1.............................pp. 54-63 side 2.............................pp. 63-69 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Family and High School Years Max Tishler's children, parents, and siblings. His difficult early years. A job in the pharmacy. Other odd jobs. High school. 4 Undergraduate Education at Tufts Rationale for attending Tufts. Paying for the education. Prof. C. H. E. Allen recommends Harvard. Textbooks used at Tufts. Successful classmates. 8 Graduate Education at Harvard A meeting with Prof. Kohler. Other graduate students. More recollections about Kohler. A poor job market. 10 Postgraduate Research at Harvard James Conant. George Kistiakowsky. A study of hydrogenation. A fire in the lab. Arthur Becket Lamb. Structure determination in the l920s. 15 Colleagues and Chemistry in the 1930s The efficacy of advanced laboratory equipment. Thomas (Jeff) Webb, Homer Adkins, and Louis Fieser. Kohler's research interests. The allene problem. Conant's presidency. Donald Cram, Melvin Newman, Emma Dietz, Mary Fieser, and Robert Woodward. Consulting. More about Kohler's research. 28 Research and Colleagues at Merck & Co. How Randolph Major was hired. George Merck, Jr.'s, emphasis upon research. Merck & Co.'s early work with vitamins. How Merck personnel approached research problems. A comparison of Harvard's and Merck's laboratories. The farsightedness of Randolph Major. Karl Folkers. The central role of the Merck labs in the synthesis of vitamins. The synthesis of riboflavin. The role of develop- ment and of pilot plants. Vitamin K. W. L. Sampson, Kurt Ladenburg, and Karl Pfister. Aldomet. Movement from laboratory work to directing developmental research. Wartime work at Merck. Effective administration. Recruitment of chemists for Merck. 41 Development and Administration at Merck & Co. Emphasis upon publication. An evaluation of Per Frolich's impact upon Merck's research and develop- ment. The formation of Merck Sharp and Dohme, a beneficial union. Merck's encouragement of its chemists to pursue graduate education. Tishler's responsibilities. Promotion to director of all research and development. Robert Denkewalter and Ralph Mozingo. Merck's penicillin project. Congressional scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry's wartime record. Vannevar Bush. Decision-making at Merck. A philosophy of adminis- tration. Impending retirement from Merck. 56 Major Contributions Cortisone, streptomycin, penicillin, actinomycin, and penicillamine. Work with the American Chemical Society. Affiliation with the Society of Chemical Industry. Organic Syntheses. Awards. 60 Current Activities and Interests Teaching at Wesleyan. Publication of papers. Views on the future direction of chemistry. Problems and opportunities. The contributions of Selman Waksman. More awards. Gardening. Student advising. INTERVIEW: Max Tishler INTERVIEWED BY: Leon Gortler and John A. Heitmann PLACE: Library at Wesleyan University DATE: November l4, l983 Gortler: We are interested not only in your scientific career, but also in your life in general: how you became interested in science and what your early background was like and so on. You have two children. Tell me about them. Tishler: One is forty-three and the other is thirty-three. Peter, my older son, is a physician. He got his MD at Yale and his undergraduate degree at Harvard. He does research in the field of genetics. He is associated with Harvard Medical School in the teaching program. He is also in charge of the teaching program at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Brockner, Massachusetts, which is part of the Harvard teaching system. Carl lives in Columbus, Ohio. He got a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Maryland and does clinical psychology at the McClain Hospital and various other hospitals --particularly those that cater to young children. He has become interested in teenagers and young children particularly from the point of view of the problems of adolescent suicides. He had published quite a bit in this field. Presently he has gone into private practice. He seems to be quite busy and doing well. Gortler: Max, I know you were born in Boston on October 30, l906; but I know very little about your family. Can you tell me something about your parents: their careers, their education, and the influence they had on you? Tishler: Well, let me say first, my parents came from abroad: mother from Germany, father from Rumania. My grandmother was Austrian. They came quite young. My mother and father were married in Boston, about l870. There were six children in the family. For some reason which I could never really understand, my father left the family while I was quite young.
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