Charles G. Overberger Papers

Charles Gilbert Overberger was an American chemistry teacher and chemist, specializing in polymer research and education. Overberger was born on October 12, 1920 in Barnesboro, Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania in 1941 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1944. Overberger studied with Professor Carl Marvel and worked for him as a Research Associate from 1944 until 1946. He also studied with Professor Arthur C. Cope at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Overberger began his teaching career at Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York, where he taught from 1947 until 1967, rising to the position of Dean of Science and Director of the Polymer Research Institute. In 1967, he accepted a position as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Overberger spent the remainder of his career at the University of Michigan, where he established and became the first Director of the Macromolecular Research Center. He retired from the University of Michigan in 1989.

Overberger was a past president of the American Chemical Society, the Chemistry Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Macromolecular Division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. He also served as member or chair of numerous boards, committees, and professional associations; as a consultant to several industrial firms and government agencies; and as an editor of several professional journals and reviews. Overberger held three honorary degrees. Among the numerous honors he received during his career were the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award of the American Chemical Society (1978), the International Award of the Society of Plastics Engineers (1979), the Horace N. Potts medal from the Franklin Institute (1982), and the University of Michigan’s Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award (1985).

Overberger’s chief research concerns were in the fields of synthetic organic reaction mechanisms and polymer chemistry. He was also concerned about the impact of chemistry upon society and the role of the chemist in society. Overberger viewed chemistry as a mechanism of both scientific and social change. Charles G. Overberger passed away on March 17, 1997 in Riverview, Ann Arbor, Michigan after an extended illness resulting from Parkinson’s disease.

Sources

Charles G. Overberger Papers, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

University of Michigan. “Charles G. Overberger.” https://ur.umich.edu/9697/Mar25_97/obit.htm.