Multiple Honors
Called unexpectedly to the speaker's platform on Commencement Day by the president of Grinnell College, Prof. Leo P. Sherman '10 was honored by a citation and the announcement that he was the recipient of the 1953 Iowa Award from the American Chemical Society. An engraved medal, to be presented on November 6, this award is given annually to an lowa chemist for meritorious achievement in either fundamental or applied chemistry, and to one who has been instrumental in stimulating interest in this science in the state.
Professor Sherman, who retired this year, has been on the staff at Grinnell for thirty years, 23 of them as chairman of the Chemistry Department. He has excelled in teaching and has seen forty of his 210 chemistry majors go on to take Ph.D. degrees in chemistry at various graduate schools throughout the country. In the opinion of the American Chemical Society, which confers the award, his record symbolizes the importance of the small liberal arts college in preparing students for advanced study.
An additional honor which coincided with his retirement from active teaching was the announcement that the Organic Laboratory in the new science building which Professor Sherman helped to plan will be named for him.
A past president of the iowa Academy of Science, Professor Sherman has been active in both faculty and church affairs. He took his graduate work at the University of Chicago, receiving his doctorate in 1923. He and his wife have four married daughters and twelve grandchildren.
