MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. News Office (AC0069) From the News Service For release in MORNING papers Mass. Institute of Technology Cambridge 39, Massachusetts of WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1955 Dr. Charles Allen Thomas, President of the Monsanto Chemical Company, will deliver the 1955 Arthur Dehon Little Memorial Lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday, April 12. Dr. Thomas will speak on "Creativity and Science" in the eighth in this series of distinguished lecturers. Open to the public, the lecture will be delivered in the Kresge Auditorium at M.I.T. at 8:30 p.m. Dr. Thomas has achieved distinction as a chemist, as an admini- strator, and as a statesman. Dr. Thomas was a pioneer in the devel- opment of tetra-ethyl lead, now used widely in motor fuels; since 1936, first as research director, later vice-president, and now president of Monsanto, he has been responsible for the Company's technical direction and research. Born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1900, Dr. Thomas attended Transylvania College before coming to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1920; here he received the Master of Science Degree in chemical engineering. His industrial career began with (more) Use copy created from Institute Archives record copy. © Massachusetts Institute of Technology I MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. News Office (AC0069) A.D. Little Lecturer - M.I.T. 2. service as a research chemist at the General Motors Research Corpor- ation and later with the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation. Dr. Thomas, together with an associate, organized in 1926 the Thomas and Hochwalt Laboratories; these were acquired ten years later by the Monsanto Chemical Company, of which Dr. Thomas then because Central Research Director. During World War II, Dr. Thomas was one of the principal scientists in the development of the atomic bomb, having charge of the final purification and metallurgy of plutonium, the 94th ele. ment. He became project director of the Clinton Laboratories at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, when the Monsanto Chemical Company contracted to operate this project. In recognition of his war-time work on atomic energy, Dr. Thomas was one of a group of scientists who received the Medal for Merit in 1946; the citation, in part, said that 'this initiative and resourcefulness and his unselfish and unswerving devotion to duty have contributed vitally to the success of the atomic bomb project." Dr, Thomas' work as one of five co-authors of the so-called Acheson-Lilienthal report on the international control of atomic energy typifies a role of outstanding public service. He has been Chairman of the Scientific Mianpower Advisory Committee of the National Security Resources Board and is now one of seven consul- tants on President Eisenhower's National Security Council. Dr. Thomas holds the Industrial Research Institute Medal for outstanding achievement in the administration of industrial research and the American Institute of Chemists' Gold Medal for work in research administration. He has been President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Chemical Society and in 1953 was Use copy created from Institute Archives(more) record copy. © Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. News Office (AC0069) A. D. Little Lecturer - M. I. T. 3. presented the Perkin Medal, the highest award for achievement in American industrial chemistry. * * * The Arthur Dehon Little Memorial Lectureship was established at M.I.T. in 1944 in memory of the founder of Arthur D. Little, Inc. Dr. Little was most widely known as an outstanding pioneer in the application of science to industry. He was a leader in such fields as chrome tanning, artificial silk, water-proof papers, wood-waste utilization, and other industrial chemical operations. Dr. Little was for many years active in the affairs of M.I.T, He was president of the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the British Society of Chemical Industries. The purpose of the Arthur Dehon Little Lectures held annually at M.I.T. is to promote interest in and stimulate discussion of the social implications inherent in the development of science. Pre", vious lecturers have included: Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey; Dr. Robert E. Wilson, Chairman of the Board of Standard Oil Company (Indiana); Dr. Detlev W. Bronk, President of the National Academy of Science; and Dr. Leonard Carmichael, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. Use copy created from Institute Archives record copy. © Massachusetts Institute of Technology .