Herman F. Mark Father of Polymer Education

Abstract

Herman Mark, who celebrated his 93rd birthday in the spring of 1988 was involved in the science of macromolecules as a contemporary of Hermann Staudinger. Professor Mark is a diplomat, author, and lecturer and responsible for the development of polymer science education throughout the entire world.

It has been said that America is a melting pot for immigrants from all other countries of the world. While it is true that millions of foreigners have emigrated to the US, in many instances the process has been one of catalytic fractionation, rather than one of melting. Hitler was the catalyst which caused the Mark family and a Jewish niece to migrate to the US via Canada and as a result of this fractionation process, the new science of polymers developed in the United States under the guidance of a former professor from the University of Vienna.

Since Dr. Mark was not the world’s first polymer chemist, one may ask how he can be called the father of polymer science. The title is based on his many contributions to polymer science education and research.

Because of over 5 years of service as a combat soldier in the Imperial Austrian Army, Herman Mark did not receive his Ph.D. degree until the age of 26. However, he was granted the Ph.D. degree, summa cum laude, after two years of study at the University of Vienna in 1921 and then accepted a position at the University of Berlin. Among the many chemists at that University were Emil Fischer, Max Bergmann and Herman Leuchs, who were biopolymer science pioneers and Carl Harries, who was a pioneer elastomer scientist.

Dr. Mark returned to Vienna in August 1922, in order to many Maria (Mimi) Schramek, a catholic, and then accepted a position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin-Dahlem, where Fritz Haber served as Director and R.D. Herzog as Codirector. Mark’s team leader was Michael Polanyi and the principal project was the study, of the molecular structure of cellulose, wool, and silk by the use of x-ray diffraction techniques in collaboration with R. Brill and K. Weininberg.

His first of over 600 scientific publications was one in Berichte on the stable free pentaphenylethyl radical in 1922. His first coauthored book with Dr. Epstein on the structure of wool was followed by a second book on x-ray diffraction techniques.

On the recommendation of Dr. Haber, Mark accepted a position in 1927 as assistant director of IG Farbenindustrie in Ludwigshafen am Rhine, where Professor Kurt H. Meyer served as director. In his attempt to elucidate the molecular structure of naturally occurring polymers, Mark was assisted by twenty professional scientists and by such eminent consultants as Drs. Staudinger and Debye.

In addition to authoring or coauthoring some 80 scientific articles while at IG during the period 1927–1932, Mark coauthored a book on the structure of macromolecules with Meyer, wrote a treatise on the physics and chemistry of cellulose, and served as associate professor of physical chemistry at the. University of Karlsruhe. His sons, Hans and Peter, were born in Mannheim in 1929 and 1931. Both received Ph.D. degrees in physics. Hans was Under Secretary of the US Air Force and is now chancellor at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his death, Peter was a Professor of Physics at Princeton University.

Their father, who was the son of a Jewish physician, Dr. Herman C. Mark, and a Lutheran mother, Lili Mueller, was born in Vienna in 1895. As a leader of a great medical era of the early 20th Century, the senior Dr. Mark, who embraced lutheranism, and his family were associated with many eminent physicians and scientists including Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the founder of the free state of Israel. The Mark family, along with relatives, who were devoted Zionists, had traveled through Israel on several occasions.

Thus, in recognition of the growing Nazi domination, Mark left Germany in 1932 and accepted a position as director of the first Chemical Institute at the University of Vienna, where he continued his research and teaching in the new field of polymer science. Dr. Rudolf Raff, eminent polyethylene scientist, was one of the first doctoral students.

Mark was author or coauthor of another hundred articles while at Vienna during the period 1932–1938. His institute attracted such visiting scientists as Guilio Natta from Italy and others from all over the world.

By moving from Mannheim to Vienna, the Marks had delayed their eventual migration from Europe by 8 years. Hitler invaded Austria in March, 1938, and Professor Mark was dismissed from the University in April of that year.

The Mark family, with only their clothes hung on coat hangers made from platinum wire, crossed the Swiss border disguised as alpine vacationers and eventually arrived in Canada, The platinum proved much more valuable than the 200 billion marks that he accumulated after World War I. He obtained $400 by selling the coat hangers in Switzerland.

He accepted a position as research manager of the Canadian International Paper Company in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada, in 1938. While with the International Paper Company (1938–1940), he started a series of books on high polymers for Interscience Publishing Company. The first book of this series was “Collected Papers of WJEL Carothers”, which he coauthored with G.S. Whitby. The second book in the series, “Physical Chemistry of Polymers,” was authored by Mark.

In 1940, he accepted an adjunct professorship at Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, which provided’a teachervisa and a consultanship with the DuPont company, his first course, “General Polymer Chemistry,” attracted few graduate students but attracted auditors such as Emil Ott, Milton Harris, H.M Spurlin, Calvin Schildknecht, I. Allen, H. Bender, W.J. Hamburger, E.O. Kraemer, and J.D. Sally.

Dr. Mark was appointed head of the Shellac Bureau in 1939 and was promoted to a full professor in 1942. During the World War II years, Mark directed many research projects for the United States government. Among the many notable polymer scientists on his research teams were Drs. Turner Alfrey, Paul Doty, Isidor Fankuchen, W. Hohenstein, Arthur Tobolsky and B.H.Zimm.

After the war, Professor Mark organized the Institute of Polymer Research in a vacant razor blade factory on Jay street in downtown Brooklyn The principal additional expense for the institute was the cost of printing stationery with the now well known 333 Jay Street address.

With the aid of Dr. E.S. Proskauer, he established the Journal of Polymer Science, which he has continued to edit up to the present time. He also continues to add to the volumes in the High Polymer Series, Polymer Reviews and the Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering.

The Institute of Polymer Science, which was the first American institute to confer the Ph.D. degree in polymer science, became the incubator for many of the nation’s polymer scientists. This list includes Drs. C.G. Overberger, Murray Goodman, H. Frisch, H. Gregor, H.P. Frank., F.R. Eirich, E. Immergut, R.B. Mesrobian, G. Oster, J. Schurz, and H. Morawetz. The list of visiting scientists, which is equally impressive, includes Drs, B. Ranby (Sweden), N. Ogata (Japan), G. Burnett (England), J. Aleman (Spain), A. Liquori (Italy), L. Valtassari (Finland), H. Gibello (France), E. Katchalsky (Israel), S. Palit and M.S. Muthana (India), and E. Oleynik and V. Kabanox (USSR).

Professor Mark was appointed Dean of the Faculty in 1961 and was named Dean Emeritus in 1964 when he retired at the age of 69. His successor as Director of the Institute was Professor Charles G. Overberger.

Herman Mark was one of the selected invitees to the Gibson Island Conferences on polymer science. These conferences were started by Dr. Neil Gordon in a dual attempt to keep the Gibson Island (MD) Country Club solvent and to promote the discussion of the advances in science. These sessions, which are now called the Gordon Conferences, have expanded to over a dozen preparatory schools in New England.

Mark was a skier and mountain climber as well as a tennis and soccer player when in school and continued to play tennis for many years. He is also a linguist, speaking German, Italian, French and English fluently, he also was awarded the Leopold Order and was the most decorated company grade officer in the Austrian army in World War I.

Seventeen universities. from ten countries have, awarded honorary degrees to Dr. Mark. Among these are Lowell University, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and the University of Vienna. he is a member of over 15 state and national academies, including the U.S. National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Institute of Great Britain, and the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

He has received more than 30 medals and awards including the Honor Scroll of the. American Institute of Chemists (1953), the Nichols Medal of the American Chemical Society (1960), the SPE International Award in Plastics Science and Engineering (1962), the ACS award in Polymer Chemistry (1965), the Chemical Pioneer award of the American Institute of Chemists (1972), the ACS award in Organic Coatings and Plastics (1975) and was named a Pioneer in Polymer Science by Polymer News.

As a combat soldier in the Austrian Army in World War I, Dr. Mark survived almost 5 years of combat in the trenches on all fronts. He was arrested and relieved of his passport before escaping from Austria in 1938. Because of a teacher’s visa, he was able to migrate to the United States. He started the world renowned Institute of Polymer Science in an abandoned factory building and after teaching and directing research of over 100 polymer scientists, he has continued, at the age of 93, to serve as an active lecturer, writer and editor. So Dr. Mark is not only the father, he is also the grandfather of polymer science in the USA.