214 West Monument Street
Baltimore, MD, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Ira Remsen House

Statement of Significant:

Ira Remsen, chemist and educator, was born February 10, 1846, in New York City. When he was eight, Remsen went with his ill mother to the country and attended school there. When she died two years later, he returned to New York and attended the local schools. He entered the Free Academy (later College of the City of New York), but did not graduate. His father wanted him to become a doctor and sent him to a homeopathic medical school. Remsen disliked the school and was allowed to transfer to Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he graduated at the age of 21 in 1867. Remsen had done well at Columbia and the publication of his senior thesis indicated that a promising career awaited him in medicine. Remsen, however, had made up his mind to study chemistry. Against his father's wishes, but with an inheritance from his mother, Remsen departed for Germany. Upon arriving in Munich he discovered that the venerable Justus von Liebig, a giant of nineteenth century chemistry, no longer accepted graduate students. He was, however, able to study under Jacob Volhard. In 1868 he transferred to Gottingen where he began research work in organic chemistry under Rudolph Fittig. When in 1870 Fittig was called to Tubingen, Remsen went with him and continued his studies in organic chemistry for another two years.
In 1872 armed with a German PhD and intent on devoting his life to research, Remsen returned to the United States. Once home Remsen decided to translate German works on chemistry and write a textbook before beginning a teaching career. After completing the first of many textbooks, Principles of Theoretical Chemistry (1877), he accepted a teaching position at Williams College. Remsen was not happy there. When he received a call from Daniel Coit Gilman to organize a chemistry department on the German model at Johns Hopkins, he accepted immediately.

Remsen spent the rest of professional career at Johns Hopkins. Between 1876 and 1901 he directed the chemistry department, building it into one of the finest in the country. In 1901 upon Gilman's resignation, Remsen became president of the university. Under his presidency Johns Hopkins continued its dedication to pure science research and the training of graduate students. Remsen guided Johns Hopkins until 1913. After stepping down as president Remsen continued as a professor of chemistry and also served as a consultant to Standard Oil of Indiana. He died in Carmel, California, on March 4, 1927, at the age of 81. His ashes were placed in a new laboratory at Johns Hopkins that had been named in his honor.

Although Remsen made important research contributions in chemistry, such as "Remsen's Law" and the discovery of saccharin, he is best remembered as a teacher, synthesizer, and institution builder. In his classes and laboratory at Johns Hopkins, Remsen developed pedagogical techniques that were adopted throughout the country. Basically, his techniques consisted of lectures explaining chemistry followed by laboratory work on problems raised during the lecture. Remsen was a brilliant lecturer and his daily visit to the work table of each graduate student make him a legend among his students.

As a synthesizer Remsen had the gift to being able to survey the literature of chemistry and then presenting this knowledge in readable textbook form. Although his own basic research discoveries did not rank him as a great experimenter, this ability to bring together the latest findings in organic and inorganic chemistry made him a dominant figure in American chemistry. In all Remsen published eight textbooks and laboratory manuals. As his Dictionary of American Biography biographer notes, "By a series of textbooks both of organic and inorganic chemistry, he extended his influence to thousands of students at home and abroad."

Remsen also made significant contributions to the institutions of chemistry. As already noted, his laboratory and teaching methods became a model. With other leading physical and biological scientists at the end of the nineteenth century, Remsen helped establish the university as a leading American institution for the conduct of basic or pure science research. In addition, in 1879 Remsen founded and for many years edited the American Chemical Journal. Until its incorporation with the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1929, this technical periodical served an invaluable function of transmitting research results throughout the chemistry community.

Remsen received all the awards and honors open to a chemist. Among his medals were the Willard Gibbs Medal and the medal of the Society for Chemical Industry. He served as president of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Sciences. He belonged to numerous societies at home and abroad and served on many public boards and commissions. He was perhaps the most honored chemist of his day.

Ira Remsen's significance in the history of science in America is that he was a leading American chemist. In their memorial to him, William A. Noyes and James F. Norris, both outstanding chemists, simply state, "Ira Remsen was the outstanding figure in American chemistry for many years."