Donald F. Othmer Diary

Donald F. Othmer (1904-1995) was an American chemical engineer, inventor, and philanthropist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 11, 1904, Othmer earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nebraska (1924) and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he earned both his M.S. (1925) and Ph.D. (1927) in Chemical Engineering. Upon earning his Ph.D., he went to work for Eastman Kodak Company, where he served as a Chemist and Development Engineer (1927-1931). At Eastman Kodak, while working on the issue of acetic acid recovery from the acetate making process, he invented the Othmer Still, a laboratory device used to measure vapor-liquid equilibrium.

In 1932, Othmer left Eastman Kodak to accept a teaching position at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn’s Chemical Engineering Department, where he enjoyed a long and distinguished career. He rose through the department’s faculty ranks, serving as Instructor (1932-1933), Assistant Professor (1933-1937), Professor and Head of Department (1937-1961), and Distinguished Professor (1961-1976). Othmer retired from Polytechnic University (the successor of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn) at the rank of Professor Emeritus in 1976 and remained affiliated with the institution until his death.

Over the course of his career, Donald F. Othmer authored numerous published papers and was awarded over 150 United States Patents, including that for the Othmer Still (1936). With Raymond E. Kirk, he co-edited The Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, a major chemical reference work. Othmer was the recipient of several awards, including the Society of Chemical Industry’s Perkin Medal (1978). Othmer and his wife Mildred Topp Othmer were noted philanthropists and donated gifts to several scientific institutions, including the 1989 challenge grant toward the creation of the Othmer Library of Chemical History at the Arnold and Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry (now known as the Science History Institute).

Donald F. Othmer passed away on November 1, 1995.

Sources

Donald F. Othmer – https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/donald-f.-othmer/.

Donald F. Othmer Diary, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Donald F. Othmer, interview by James J. Bohning at Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York, 3 April 1986, 11 June 1986, and 15 January 1987 (Philadelphia: Science History Institute, Oral History #36).