Father of polymers

Professor of Chemistry Walter Stockmayer has been awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor in mathematics, science and engineering. Stockmayer was cited by President Reagan as "one of the central figures in the history of the chemical physics of high polymers."

English majors who never set foot in a chem lab might recall that Kurt Vonnegut paid homage to Stockmayer in the book Breakfast of Champions. Vonnegut wrote,

"The man who told me how to diagram a segment of a molecule of plastic was Professor Walter H. Stockmayer of Dartmouth College. He is a distinguished physical chemist, and an amusing and useful friend of mine. I did not make him up. I would like to be Professor Walter H. Stockmayer. He is a brilliant pianist. He skis like a dream."

Although Stockmayer, 73, officially retired in 1979, he continues to teach parttime and to conduct research, and he is in the midst of writing a three-volume book on polymer chemistry.