William F. Hillebrand,— NIST’s chief chemist , 1908 -1921

William F. Hillebrand — NIST’s chief chemist,
1908-1921
William F. Hillebrand is remembered for his contributions to analytical chemistry and his absolute insistence on the highest standards of accuracy in this work.

Born in Honolulu in 1853, Hillebrand was the son of a physician who was also an authority on the botany of the Sandwich Islands. In 1872, after two years at Cornell University, he decided to become a chemist, heading for the University of Heidelberg that fall. In 1875, he received a doctorate, summa cum laude. He had discovered the pyrophoric properties of cerium filings, later used commercially for the tips of gas lighters.

In 1876, Hillebrand attended the University of Strasbourg and, in 1877, studied at the Mining Academy at Freiberg. He joined the United States Geological Survey in 1880, analyzing rocks and minerals. In 1904, he called attention to the large quantities of potash that were lost during the processing of Portland cement. Years later, recovery became a valuable commercial process.

In 1908, Hillebrand became chief chemist of the National Bureau of Standards, now NIST. Among his responsibilities was the program of Standard Reference Materials. An initially modest list of standard samples, which included three of iron, one limestone and one zinc ore, grew to 5,000 samples representing 65 materials by 1925.

Known for his exacting standards, Hillebrand was referred to by his staff as "The Supreme Court of Analytical Chemistry." He read voraciously, watched birds, fished for bass and enjoyed piano and philately.

Hillebrand was active in the American Chemical Society, serving as associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, assistant editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry and as the Society’s president in 1906. He is memorialized by the Hillebrand Award of the Society’s Washington section, given annually to an outstanding area chemist.

In 1916, Hillebrand was awarded the Chandler Gold Medal by Columbia University. In 1923, he began co-authoring Applied Inorganic Analysis, which was incomplete at his death in 1925. The work was published in 1929 and became known as "the analyst’s bible."

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