Jeffrey I. Seeman

Seeman attended the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, graduating with a bachelor's degree, high honors, in chemistry in 1967. He earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1971.

Seeman worked at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland on a fellowship, before joining the Philip Morris Research Center in Richmond, Virginia. He worked there from 1973 to 1999, publishing more than 90 scientific papers and filing patents.

A sabbatical year at the Dyson Perrins Laboratory at Oxford University in 1983-1984 inspired Seeman's interest in the history of organic chemistry, and the beginning of his second career. Between 1990 and 1997 Seeman proposed and edited 20 volumes of autobiographies of organic chemists, published by the American Chemical Society and Oxford University Press under the series title Profiles, Pathways and Dreams.{{cite book|last1=Hessenbruch|first1=Arne|title=Reader's guide to the history of science|date=1998|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|location=London|isbn=9781884964299|pages=535–536|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMpbtS-FrXsC&pg=PA535|access-date=24 October 2017}}

The series contains autobiographies of Arthur Birch, Andrew Streitweiser, Bruce Merrifield, Carl Djerassi, Ernest Eliel and Koji Nakanishi, among others, with the goal of portraying "science as a human endeavor".{{cite web|title=Jeff, Chemistry Historian|url=http://justlikecooking.blogspot.com/2012/10/jeff-chemistry-historian.html|website=Just Like Cooking|date=25 October 2012|access-date=24 October 2017}}

They have been described as "lively and informative" and "exemplary in this genre" of scientific biography.{{cite journal|last1=Nye|first1=Mary Jo|title=Scientific biography in the history of chemistry: The role of Dexter and Edelstein award winners in the last fifty years|journal=Bulletin for the History of Chemistry|date=2007|volume=32|issue=1|url=http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/bulletin_open_access/v32-1/v32-1%20p21-26.pdf|access-date=24 October 2017}}

After his retirement from Philip Morris in 1999, Seeman became a fellow, and later a member of the board of directors, at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

From 2005 to 2006, he served as Chair of the Division of the History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (HIST).{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey L.|title=HIST'S CITATION FOR CHEMICAL BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS: THE FIRST PAPER OR THE "BREAKTHROUGH" PAPER?|journal=Bulletin for the History of Chemistry|date=2013|volume=38|issue=1|url=http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/awards/Citations/v38-1%20p4-6.pdf|access-date=12 March 2018}} He created the Citation for Chemical Breakthrough (CCB) Award program to commemorate international historically important publications in the field of chemistry. He has also organized history of chemistry symposia for many ACS conferences. As of 2007, he joined the University of Richmond.

As both a scientist and a historian, he is able to write knowledgeably about scientists such as Robert Burns Woodward,{{cite journal|last1=Halford|first1=Bethany|title=C&EN Talks With Chemistry Historian Jeffrey I. Seeman About The Origins Of A Groundbreaking Theory Organic chemist offers insights into his latest paper on the early days of R. B. Woodward and Roald Hoffmann's Nobel Prize-winning collaboration|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=January 11, 2016|volume=94|issue=2|pages=29–30|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i2/CEN-Talks-Chemistry-Historian-JeffreySeeman.html?type=paidArticleContent|access-date=24 October 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Halford|first1=Bethany|title=Remembering organic chemistry legend Robert Burns Woodward Famed chemist would have been 100 this year|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=April 10, 2017|volume=95|issue=15|pages=28–34|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i15/Remembering-organic-chemistry-legend-Robert-Burns-Woodward.html|access-date=24 October 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|title=R. B. Woodward's Letters: Revealing, Elegant and Commanding|journal=Helvetica Chimica Acta|volume=100|issue=12|pages=e1700183|date=23 October 2017|doi=10.1002/hlca.201700183|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|title=Woodward's Words: Elegant and Commanding|journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition|date=4 October 2016|volume=55|issue=41|pages=12898–12912|doi=10.1002/anie.201600811|pmid=27373954}} their work, and their disputes.{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|last2=Cantrill|first2=Stuart|title=Wrong but seminal|journal=Nature Chemistry|date=19 February 2016|volume=8|issue=3|pages=193–200|doi=10.1038/nchem.2455|pmid=26892545|bibcode=2016NatCh...8..193S}} He has published more than 55 papers on the history and sociology of chemistry.

These include studies with Mark House into authorship and the perceptions and crediting of contributions by working scientists.{{cite news|last1=Van Noorden|first1=Richard|title=Chemistry credit disputes under the spotlight|url=http://blogs.nature.com/news/2010/08/chemistry_credit_disputes_unde.html|access-date=24 October 2017|work=Nature News Blog|date=24 August 2010}}{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|last2=House|first2=Mark C.|title=Influences on Authorship Issues: An Evaluation of Giving Credit|journal=Accountability in Research|date=11 May 2010|volume=17|issue=3|pages=146–169|doi=10.1080/08989621003791986|pmid=20461570|s2cid=205612633|doi-access=free}}{{cite book|title=Issues in General Science and Scientific Theory and Method|date=2011|publisher=Science Scholarly Editions|isbn=978-1464963476|pages=2955–2956|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bk7PvNyfbHoC&pg=PA2956|access-date=24 October 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|last2=House|first2=Mark C.|title=Authorship Issues and Conflict in the U.S. Academic Chemical Community|journal=Accountability in Research|date=9 July 2015|volume=22|issue=6|pages=346–383|doi=10.1080/08989621.2015.1047707|pmid=26155731|pmc=4714244}}

Seeman has been active on the advisory board of The Journal of Organic Chemistry,{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|title=Woodward–Hoffmann's Stereochemistry of Electrocyclic Reactions: From Day 1 to the JACS Receipt Date (May 5, 1964 to November 30, 1964)|journal=The Journal of Organic Chemistry|date=4 December 2015|volume=80|issue=23|pages=11632–11671|doi=10.1021/acs.joc.5b01792|pmid=26505806|hdl=1813/41647|hdl-access=free}} and of Accountability in Research, and was the guest editor of their edition on Ethics and Responsible Conduct.{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|title=Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research within the Chemical Community. Ideas and Experiences Worth Sharing|journal=Accountability in Research |date=9 July 2015|volume=22|issue=6|pages=303–306|doi=10.1080/08989621.2015.1047704 |pmid=26155727|pmc=4714240}}

Seeman's writing on education includes the incorporation of history and biography into chemistry curricula.{{cite book|last1=Matthews|first1=Michael|title=International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching.|date=2013|publisher=Springer Verlag|location=[s.l.]|isbn=9789400776531|pages=331–334|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bP0AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA331|access-date=24 October 2017}}

Seeman produces short films or videos on the history and sociology of chemistry, for education and historical use.{{cite journal|last1=Halford|first1=Bethany|title=Quinine Revisited ... Again Historical research helps untangle the complex mythology of quinine synthesis|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=February 26, 2007|volume=85|issue=9|pages=47–50|doi=10.1021/cen-v085n009.p047|url=https://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/85/8509sci1.html|access-date=24 October 2017}}

He produced an accompanying video for the book Arnold O. Beckman: One Hundred Years of Excellence.{{cite book | isbn = 978-0-941901-23-9 |author1=Arnold Thackray |author2=Minor Myers, Jr. |name-list-style=amp |others = foreword by James D. Watson. | year = 2000 | publisher = Chemical Heritage Foundation | location = Philadelphia, Pa. | title = Arnold O. Beckman : one hundred years of excellence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edtL_hIi8M0C&pg=PA373}}

The Eminent Organic Chemists series interviewed 20 organic chemists as part of the 100th birthday of the Division of Organic Chemistry (ORGN) of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2008.{{cite web|title=Videos of Eminent Organic Chemists|url=https://www.organicdivision.org/videos/ |website=ACS Division of Organic Chemistry|access-date=24 October 2017}}{{cite web|title=Organic Chemistry Videos|url=https://www.organicdivision.org/videos/|website=ACS Division of Organic Chemistry|access-date=12 March 2018}}{{cite journal|last1=Seeman|first1=Jeffrey I.|title=Happy 101st Birthday to the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ORGN)|journal=The Journal of Organic Chemistry|date=2 January 2009|volume=74|issue=1|page=1|doi=10.1021/jo8022846|doi-access=free}}

The Archimedes Initiative, which focused on students involved in high school science fairs, received a Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation award in 2009.{{cite web|title=The Archimedes Initiative|url=https://news.richmond.edu/features/article/-/10369/the-archimedes-initiative-scholar-aims-to-increase-science-literacy-around-the-country.html?sma=sm.001j0kdzj1271d6mqz41mup81vdqy|website=University of Richmond|access-date=24 October 2017}}

Seeman has also been a consultant to the United States Post Office on their series of stamps commemorating American Scientists.{{cite web|title=JEFFREY I. SEEMAN, B.S., Ph.D.|url=https://assets.richmond.edu/files/faculty-staff-bio/as/seeman-cv.pdf|website=Semantic Scholar|access-date=24 October 2017}}

In 2007, Seeman received the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society.{{cite journal|title=Distinguished Service Award Dr. Jeffrey I. Seeman|journal=Bulletin of the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society|date=September 14, 2007|page=2|url=http://virginia.sites.acs.org/Bulletin/2007/September2007Bulletin.pdf}}

Seeman was named the 2017 Wheeler Lecturer by the Royal Society of Chemistry in London, for significant contributions to the history of chemistry.{{cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Linda|title=Jeff Seeman presents Wheeler Lecture|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=September 18, 2017|volume=95|page=41|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i37/Jeff-Seeman-presents-Wheeler-Lecture.html?type=paidArticleContent|access-date=24 October 2017}}

Also in 2017, Seeman was awarded the HIST Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry from the Division of the History of Chemistry, to be presented on March 20, 2018.

{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seeman, Jeffrey I.}}

Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:Historians of science

Category:People from Jersey City, New Jersey

Category:Stevens Institute of Technology alumni

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:University of Richmond people