The Nobel Prize rewards the author of a major discovery. However, there are other avenues to the advancement of knowledge. Its dissemination occurs not only from publications in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, also through the patent literature. Industrial laboratories prepare novel materials and devise technical applications for them. Sometimes — Bell Laboratories is a prime example — they engage in pure science as well. While expertise in a field may bring eminence with it, the complementary role of polymaths is equally essential. Leadership in exploration entails judgment in surrounding oneself with lieutenants, wisely chosen for their potential. Because Howard Ensign Simmons, Jr. (1929-1996) who directed the Experimental Station at DuPOnt, in Wilmington, Delaware, excelled in all these other characteristics, he is, I submit, a prime candidate for one of the honorary Nobel Prizes in chemistry.

Proposing Howard E. Simmons, Jr.

251st National Meeting (2016)

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