W. Conway Pierce
Born(1895-12-02)December 2, 1895
Carrollton, Kentucky
DiedDecember 23, 1974(1974-12-23) (aged 79)
Education
B.A. Georgetown College, 1920
TitleEmeritus professor of chemistry[2]
Spouse
Kate Shewmaker
​
(m. 1921)​
[3]
ChildrenWillis C. "Bill" Pierce
Awards
President's Certificate of Merit (1948)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
ThesisA further study of the reaction between nitrogen dioxide and liquid mercury. An investigation of the mechanism of the photochemical decomposition of malonic acid. (1928)

Willis Conway Pierce (December 2, 1895 – December 23, 1974[3]) was an American chemist and professor at Pomona College and in the University of California system.

Career

Pierce left Georgetown College as a sophomore for New York to serve in the gas defense section of the United States Army Signal Corps.[3][5] He was in the army from April to December 1918.[6] He subsequently graduated from Georgetown College in 1920. In that same year, he began teaching at the University of Kentucky and later at the University of South Dakota. He stayed on at the University of Chicago after receiving his Ph.D. to teach quantitative analysis.[4] During this time he co-authored seminal chemistry textbook Quantitative Analysis with Edward Lauth Haenisch.[3] Quantitative Analysis would go through 21 editions until 1963.[7] During World War II, Pierce worked for the Office of Scientific Research and Development's National Defense Research Committee. Pierce had been recruited by his doctoral advisor, W. Albert Noyes, Jr., to join the "division 10" central laboratory at Northwestern University. Pierce's lab focused on chemical warfare defense and developed carbon filtering for use in chemical protective masks.[8] Pierce's work included an assignment in Australia and the South Pacific.[3] He was awarded the President's Certificate of Merit in 1948 for his services.[1]

From 1945 to 1953, Pierce served as the chair of the chemistry department at Pomona College. During this time, fellow chemistry professor and well-known practical joker R. Nelson Smith pranked Pierce by releasing several pigeons from the ceiling during one of Pierce's lectures. Pierce took the joke in stride by bringing a shotgun to the next class.[9][10] Pierce would later co-author a chemistry textbook, Solving General Chemistry Problems, with Nelson.[11] Pierce was recruited by Gordon S. Watkins to serve as the head of the Physical Sciences department at the then newly opened University of California, Riverside (UCR) in 1953.[4][12][13][14] Pierce was awarded the 1963 Honor Scroll from the American Institute of Chemists for "outstanding contributions to the training of chemists and the advancement of the profession."[15]

After retiring from University of California, Riverside in 1965, Pierce provided input on University of California, Irvine's new chemistry building.[16][17] Pierce Hall on University of California, Riverside is named for him.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "W.C. Pierce Faculty Lecturer". University Bulletin: A Weekly Bulletin for the Staff of the University of California. 7 (23): 104. 26 January 1959. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ↑ (System), University of California (June 7, 1965). "Honorary degrees". University Bulletin. 13 (39): 247.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1976, University of California: In Memoriam". University of California. March 1976. pp. 102–105. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "1963 W. Conway Pierce, UC Riverside". Southern California Chapter of the American Chemical Society. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Scott County", Lexington Leader, Lexington, Kentucky, April 5, 1918, first section, page 2. (subscription required)
  6. ↑ "Index Record for Conway Pierce (1895) Veterans Affairs Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem Death File", Fold3 by Ancestry.com website. Retrieved October 26, 2022. Enlistment Date is listed as "1 Apr 1918" and Release Date is listed as "17 Dec 1918".
  7. ↑ "Pierce, Willis Conway 1895–". WorldCat. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Interview of James N. Pitts, Jr" (PDF). American Meteorological Society. August 1, 2007: 22. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ↑ Dolinar, Sarah (Spring 2002). "The Prankster's Rules". Pomona College Magazine. 38 (3).
  10. ↑ Smith, R.Nelson; Zettlemoyer, Al; Rowland, F.S; Brunauer, Stephen; Beebe, Ralph (1976). "A tribute to the memory of Willis Conway Pierce (1895–1974)". Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 54 (1): 1–3. Bibcode:1976JCIS...54....1S. doi:10.1016/0021-9797(76)90276-9.
  11. ↑ Idoux, John P. (1981). "Solving general chemistry problems (Nelson Smith,R.; Pierce, Conway)". Journal of Chemical Education. 58 (8): A245. Bibcode:1981JChEd..58A.245I. doi:10.1021/ed058pA245.1.
  12. ↑ "Transcription of Oral History Interview with George K. Helmkamp" (PDF). University of California, Riverside. July 22, 1998: 5. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ↑ Pierce, W. Conway (February 15, 1954). "The Physical Sciences". Riverside Daily Press and Enterprise. p. 15 – via Issuu.
  14. ↑ Kerr, Clark (2001). The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967. University of California Press. p. 314. ISBN 9780520223677.
  15. ↑ "Ocean Water Use by LA is Predicted". The Fresno Bee. Fresno, California. September 22, 1963. p. 108. Retrieved 8 November 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Interview with Mabry Steinhaus" (PDF). University of California, Irvine. June 25, 1974: 11. Retrieved 8 November 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. ↑ "Interview with Ivan Hinderaker" (PDF). University of California, Irvine. March 16, 1974: 2. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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