Remsen, Ira

Name:
Remsen, Ira
Detailed information:
(1846–1927). An American chemist born in New York. He began his career in medical practice but abandoned it for chemistry and went to Germany to study. He received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Gottingen in 1870. Returning to the U.S. he taught physics and chemistry at Williams and was later invited to join the staff of Johns Hopkins University where he became head of the department of chemistry. There he established the first graduate curriculum in chemistry in the U.S. based on the system then in use in Germany. In 1879, saccharin was discovered in his research laboratory. He wrote several widely used textbooks and founded the American Journal of Chemistry which later merged with JACS. He was President of Johns Hopkins from 1901 to 1912, and is recognized as one of the great teachers of chemistry.