C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

Noyes Laboratory:
One Hundred Years of Chemistry

A Century of Accomplishment
The Bare Facts
Nobel Prize Winners
ACS Presidents
Priestley Medal Winner

Fine Chemicals

The Illinois State Water Survey

Chemists and Chemistry at Noyes:
Roger Adams: "The Chief"
Ludwig F. Audrieth and Synthetic Sweeteners
John C. Bailar Jr. and Coordination Chemistry
St. Elmo Brady: Pioneer
George L. Clark and High-Intensity X-Ray Tubes
Willis H. Flygare and Microwave Spectrometry
Reynold C. Fuson: Teaching Chemistry
Herbert S. Gutowsky and NMR Spectroscopy
B. Smith Hopkins and the Chemistry of Rare Earths
Henry Fraser Johnstone and the Study of Air Pollution
Herbert A. Laitinen and Analytical Chemistry
Carl "Speed" Marvel: Advances in Polymer Chemistry
William A. Noyes: The Department Comes of Age
Arthur W. Palmer: The Early Years
Samuel W. Parr and Applied Chemistry
Charles C. Price III and Antimalarials
Worth H. Rodebush and Physical Chemistry
William C. Rose and Amino Acids
George F. Smith and the Aerosol Can
Harold R. Snyder and Antimalarials
Marion Sparks and Chemical Information

Landmark Designation

Born and raised in a small Minnesota farming community, Willis Flygare went to the University of California at Berkeley for his graduate work in chemistry, receiving a Ph.D. in 1961 with W. D. Gwinn for his work in microwave spectroscopy. Flygare joined the University of Illinois chemistry faculty, also in 1961. He developed a new experimental method involving the molecular Zeeman effect, which he used to measure quadrupole moments and magnetic susceptibility anisotropies of many molecules.

By making improvements affecting line widths, Flygare built a microwave spectrograph with unsurpassed resolution and used this spectrometer to determine many spin interaction constants of molecules, which he related to molecular electronic structural properties. Flygare showed for the first time the presence of formamide in interstellar space. He determined the structures of many molecules of chemical interest, and he developed a new and rapid method involving laser light scattering for determining electrophoretic mobility and the diffusion constants of large molecules.

Although Flygare died at the age of 44 from the effects of A.L.S, the impact of his research was broad. His molecular Zeeman studies revealed details of electronic importance in both organic and inorganic chemistry. His electrophoretic mobility work was of great interest to biophysical chemists and his solid-state work gained favorable attention from physicists. His book, Molecular Structure and Dynamics, is a classic in chemical physics. Flygare’s accomplishments in the development of Fourier-transform microwave spectrometry were recognized by election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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