Marshall Gates research notebooks

Collection

Identifier: D.43

Staff Only

Biographical / Historical note

Marshall Gates, Jr. (1915-2003) was C.F. Houghton Professor of Chemistry at the University of Rochester until his retirement in 1981 and Professor Emeritus until his death in 2003. Gates came to the University of Rochester at the request of W. Albert Noyes, Jr. in 1949 to be the assistant editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1950, and succeeded Noyes as the 8 th editor of that publication in 1963 until his retirement from that position in 1970.

Gates is most widely known as the first chemist to synthesize morphine in 1952, an enormous achievement he shared with his co-worker Gilg Tschudi. He subsequently created hundreds of compounds and was awarded 13 patents in his quest for the perfect painkiller. Professor Gates was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1958. He won a Fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the New York Academy of Sciences shortly thereafter. Gates authored Looking Back: A Memoir in 1995.

Scope and Contents

The Marshall Gates Research Notebooks collection is comprised of four manuscript boxes containing 107 glass lantern slides, research, dissertations, and fourteen volumes, recording fifty years of Marshall Gates, Jr.'s laboratory activities.

Creator

Gates, Marshall D., 1915-2003 (Person)

Dates

Creation: 1909-1988

Language of Materials

English

Extent

4 box(es) (4 boxes and 14 volumes)

Access

The Marshall Gates Research Notebooks is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was the gift of the Marshall Gates Family. The notebook volumes were given in 2004 and the contents of boxes 1-4 were given in 2014.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Marshall Gates Research Notebooks, D.43, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester