Eugene G. Kovach Student Notebooks

Eugene G. Kovach (1922-2021) was an American organic chemist and science administrator. Born in Irvington, New Jersey on May 18, 1922, Kovach grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He earned his B.S degree in Chemistry and his M.S. degree in Chemistry from Wayne University (now called Wayne State University). Kovach served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, during which he was assigned to the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Kovach resumed his education after the war, earning his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University (1950). At Harvard, he studied under American organic chemist and 1965 Nobel Prize winner Robert Burns Woodward. After receiving his Ph.D., he taught chemistry and conducted chemical research at Colby College, the University of Florida, and Georgetown University. Kovach also retained an officer commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve. From 1954 to 1957, he served as Science Advisor with the U.S. Naval Forces Germany.

Kovach entered civilian U.S. government service in 1957, holding positions with the National Science Foundation’s Division of Policy Research (1957-1959) and the U.S. Department of State (1959-1970). He accepted his second overseas assignment in 1970, serving a stint as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for General Science Affairs in Brussels, Belgium (1970-1976). After returning to the United States in 1976, he held positions at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Policy Research (1976-1978) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (1978-1982). Kovach retired from U.S. government service in 1982. He continued to work temporary assignments for the U.S. Department of State until the early 1990s.

Eugene G. Kovach passed away on January 3, 2021.

Sources

Eugene G. Kovach Student Notebooks, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Eugene George Kovach, 1922-2021.” https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/skagitvalleyherald/name/eugene-kovach-obituary?id=12687971.

“Oral History Interview with Eugene G. Kovach, 2001 June 28 and 29.” - Online Library Catalog Record - American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives.