In memoriam Arthur Tobolsky

Abstract

Arthur Tobolsky, aged 53, died unexpectedly on September 7, 1972 while attending a conference in Utica, N.Y. His entire professional life was devoted to teaching and research in polymer science and rheology. He graduated from Columbia in 1940, and received his PhD in Princeton in 1944. Since then, with the exception of one year at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, he has been on the staff of the Chemistry Department at Princeton, where he has directed the work of scores of graduate students and postdoctoral coworkers. He has made fundamental contributions in the fields of rheology, rubber elasticity, polymerization kinetics and thermodynamics, degradation, and in many theoretical aspects. He has served on the Board of Editors of American Scientist, the Journal of Polymer Science, and the Journal of Applied Physics. He has received the Witco Award in Polymer Chemistry (Amer. Chem. Soc), the Ford Prize in Polymer Physics (Amer. Phys. Soc), and the Bingham Award of the Society of Rheology (U. S.). He was a brilliant scientist, inspiring teacher, and friend, and he will be missed by all of his colleagues.