Theodore L. Cairns

Theodore L. Cairns (born July 20, 1914 in Edmonton, † 16 September 1994) was a Canadian-American chemist. He was research director at DuPont and research adviser to US President Richard Nixon.

Cairns studied at the University of Alberta with a bachelor's degree in 1936 and was promoted to Roger Adams at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1939 (on the stereochemistry of substituted biphenyls). Until 1941 he was an instructor in organic chemistry at the University of Rochester and then went to DuPont at their research center in Wilmington (Delaware). There he stayed until his retirement in 1979. From 1952 he was a laboratory researcher in the Central Research Department, 1966 research director, and 1971 director of the Central Research Department. When he was merged with the Development Department in 1977, he became the Director of the newly created Research and Development Department.

In the context of industrial research (where he initially worked on nylon modifications), he was able to synthesise some new organic compounds, such as tetracyanoethylene (inspired by the Teflon developed by DuPont).

From 1949 to 1952 he was editor of Organic Syntheses and from 1959 to 1969 editor of Organic Reactions. From 1970 to 1973 he was a scientific adviser to Richard Nixon, and from 1969 to 1972 he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the governor of Delaware. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Board of Organic Chemistry at the American Chemical Society. In 1973 he received the Perkin Medal, 1974 the Elliott Cresson Medal and 1968 the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. In 1970 he became honorary doctor of the University of Alberta.

He was US citizen. Since 1940 he was married to Margaret McDonald, with whom he had four children. His daughter Margaret Etter (died 1992) was a chemistry professor at the University of Minnesota. Weblinks Edit sourcetext Standard data (person): LCCN: no2010206614 VIAF: 160916450 | Wikipedia People Search

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