author
Julius Stieglitz
1867–1937
A pioneering American chemist, he helped bring physical chemistry into the study of organic compounds and became known for the reaction that still bears his name. He also played an important role in American pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry during the early 20th century.
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About the author
Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1867, Julius Oscar Stieglitz studied in Germany and earned his doctorate at the University of Berlin. After early work with Parke-Davis as a toxicologist, he joined the University of Chicago in 1892 and spent most of his career there as a teacher, researcher, and later department chair.
Stieglitz became one of the leading American organic chemists of his generation. He was especially interested in understanding how organic compounds behave through ideas about valence and reaction mechanisms, and his name is remembered in the Stieglitz rearrangement. His work also connected chemistry to medicine and pharmacy, helping shape the growing field of medicinal chemistry in the United States.
Beyond the laboratory, he took on important public and professional service, including work connected to synthetic drugs during and after World War I. He died in Chicago in 1937, leaving behind a reputation as both a serious investigator and a gifted teacher.