Biographical Memoirs Volume 65 (1994) / Chapter Skim
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18. Charles Allen Thomas
18. Charles Allen Thomas
Pages 338-353
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From page 339... ...
He was a clistinguished scientist, an important figure in the Manhattan Project, a prolific inventor, a leader in the chemical inclustry, an outspoken and effective advocate for higher eclucation and research, and an energetic public servant. Several articles have appeared on Dr.
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From page 340... ...
At age thirteen some of the professors at Transylvania College offered him the use of their laboratories. Inciclentally, in ~ 954 President Eisenhower dedicated Transylvania College's Frances Carrick Thomas Library, named in honor of Dr.
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From page 341... ...
Dr. Thomas served as president of the laboratory until ~936, when it was acquired by the Monsanto Chemical Company for I.4 million dollars in Monsanto common stock shares.
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From page 342... ...
thus: A, I first met Charlie Thomas in June of 1943, after he joined the Manhattan Project at the request of General Leslie Groves and James Conant. At the time he was the Director of Monsanto's Central Research Department.
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From page 343... ...
Charlie's work in this direction continued, and in 1946 he was appointed by Dean Acheson to serve with Robert Oppenheimer, David Lilienthal and others on a special Board of Consultants formed to appraise matters relating to international inspection and the nuclear potential of various nations. The extensive and highly significant work of this Board was to culminate in their writing of the famous Acheson-Lilienthal report and the presentation of the first plan to propose placing the atom under international control so that it could be controlled and developed for the benefit of all mankind.
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From page 344... ...
Thomas was appointed chairman of the Scientific Manpower Advisory Committee of the National Security Resources Board; in this role he was involved in the formulation of policy regarding the maximum contribution to national defense from the nation's scientific and technological personnel. In 1951 President Truman appointed Dr.
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From page 345... ...
One of Dr. Thomas's greatest concerns was the importance of education and research, and these concerns led him to another very important set of activities: serving as curator of Transylvania College; donating $600,000 to endow the Charles Allen Thomas Professorship of Chemistry at Washington University; serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Washington University; serving as a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1950 onward; being a generous benefactor to MTT by donating funds to promote scientific endeavors at that institution; serving as chairman and member of numerous departmental visiting committees at MIT; leading a remarkable bond issue campaign in 1965 to provicle the newly established St.
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From page 346... ...
large corporations. In a speech to business leaders in 1952 he urged them to "remember that our businesses and their profits are only a means to an end, a means toward making Americans happier and America a stronger and more unified nation."4 Clearly he was declicated to the proposition that businessmen have a moral obligation to exert positive leadership in improving society as a whole; certainly in his own life Dr.
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From page 347... ...
Dr. Thomas's son recalls his father's concern about the attitudes of some persons regarding the clevelopment of nuclear energy: While admiring intelligence he developed severe doubts about 'intellectuals' both real and fancied—and their attempts to influence political events....
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A riskless society is a retrogressive society or at best a static one." Dr. Thomas married Miss Margaret Stoddard Talbott of Dayton, Ohio, in 1926; they had four chil(lren: Charles Allen, TTT, Margaret Talbott, Frances Carrick, and Katharine Tu(lor.
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From page 349... ...
Danforth, the chancellor of Washington University, characterized Charles Allen Thomas by the following statement: "I think that his great characteristic is his insatiable curiosity, his desire to know about life."6 THE AUTHOR WISHES to thank Washington University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Monsanto Chemical Company, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for responding to his requests for biographical information concerning Dr. Charles Allen Thomas.
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From page 350... ...
12. "Biographical Sketch of Charles Allen Thomas," prepared by Monsanto Chemical Company, revised March 4, 1954.
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From page 351... ...
Drying rates of synthetic resins with drying oils.
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From page 352... ...
News 21:643-50. 1945 Nation's future technological strength endangered by lapse of education and training.
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