Max Tishler Papers

Max Tishler was an American chemist, pharmaceutical industry executive, and chemistry professor. Born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 30, 1906, Tishler was introduced to chemistry at a young age when he took a job as a pharmacist’s assistant. In this capacity, he packaged and delivered drugs in Boston during the Flu Pandemic of 1918. This experience left a lasting impression upon him and prompted him to seek a career in the health care field. Tishler earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Tufts University (1928) and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University (1934). After obtaining his doctorate, he remained at Harvard for a time, serving as a Research Associate (1934-1936) and Instructor of Chemistry (1936-1937).

Tishler went to work in the pharmaceutical industry in 1937 when he accepted a Research Chemist position at Merck and Company, Incorporated. He went on to enjoy a distinguished 33-year career with this firm, where he played an instrumental role in a number of pharmaceutical innovations. His first project at Merck was the development of a practical method for large scale production of riboflavin (Vitamin B2). During World War II, he oversaw Merck’s successful mass production of the antibiotic penicillin. During the 1940s, Tishler led the research team that developed a method of synthesizing the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone. Over the course of his career at Merck, he also led the firm’s development of vaccines against measles, mumps, and German measles, and drugs for the treatment of heart disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and clinical depression.

While leading Merck and Company’s efforts to develop innovative new drugs, Tishler rose through the firm’s corporate hierarchy, serving as Section Head in Charge of Process Development (1941-1944), Director of Development Research (1944-1953), Vice President and Executive Director of Science Activities (1954-1956), and President of Merck, Sharp, and Dohme Research Laboratories (1957-1969). He retired from Merck and Company in 1970 as the firm’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development.

After retiring from Merck and Company, Tishler joined Wesleyan University’s Chemistry Department faculty in 1970. Serving as Professor of Chemistry (1970-1972), University Professor of the Sciences (1972-1973), Chairman of the Chemistry Department (1973-1975), and University Professor of the Sciences, Emeritus (1975-1989), he taught chemistry courses and continued to make significant contributions in the chemical research field. Tishler was also founder of the Peter A. Leermakers Symposium, a chemistry symposium that brings eminent chemists to the Wesleyan University campus.

A prolific inventor, Max Tishler was awarded over one hundred patents, including those for the synthesis of riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and the poultry antibiotic sulfaquinoxaline, the two inventions for which he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1982. He was also recipient of a number of prestigious awards for his work in chemistry, including, but not limited to, the Industrial Research Institute Medal (1961), the Chemical Industry Medal (1963), the Joseph Priestly Medal (1970), and the National Medal of Science (1987). In addition to his work at Merck and Company and Wesleyan University, Tishler was an active member of a number of scientific organizations, including, but not limited to, the American Chemical Society and the Society of Chemical Industry.

Max Tishler passed away on March 18, 1989

Sources

Max Tishler Papers, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.