NOBEL CHEMISTRY PRIZE TO PROFESSOR RICHARDS

The Nobel chemistry prize of $40,000 for 1914 has been awarded to Professor Theodore William Richards '86, Erving Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Wolcott Gibbs Memorial Laboratory, for investigations and determinations of the atomic weights of the chemical elements. The Nobel prize for physics for 1914 has been awarded to Professor Max von Laur of Frankfort-on-Main.

Professor Richards was born in Germantown. Pa., in 1868 and received the degree of S. B. from Haverfold in 1885 and the degree of A. B. from the University the following year. Two years later he was awarded the Ph.D. He then studied abroad for several years, and upon his return was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at the University. In 1907 he was promoted to a full professorship. In 1907 he was exchange professor to Berlin.

Professor Richards is an investigator in physical and organic chemistry and the author of papers concerning the significance of changing atomic volume. He is a member of the International Commission on Atomic Weights. His many honors include degrees from twelve universities and membership in many of the leading scientific societies of Germany, Sweden, and the United States. He was awarded the Davy Medal by the Royal Society of London in 1910 and the Willard Gibbs Medal by the American chemical Society in 1912. The London Medical Society awarded him the Faraday medal in 1911, and he was probably the first American to be offered a permanent chair in a German university, an offer which he declined.

Professor Richards with assistants has revised the atomic weights of oxygen, nitrogen, copper, nickel, calcium, sodium, and many other elements. During the past year he has undertaken several important investigations which will be continued during the present year.

When interviewed yesterday in regard to the prize, Dr. Richards said:

"I am much touched by the cordial interest of my friends. The prize itself, together with this friendly support, will be a great inspiration and help to better work in the future."