Lee Irvin Smith

Smith was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1891, the oldest of three sons. He was raised mostly in Columbus, Ohio, where the family moved when Smith was a child. His father was a piano maker and Smith learned to play from a young age. Smith attended Ohio State University and developed an interest in chemistry after a course taught by William Lloyd Evans.[1] Smith received his bachelor's degree in 1913 and remained at Ohio State for a master's degree received in 1915.[2] He then moved to Harvard University, where he studied organic chemistry under the supervision of Elmer Peter Kohler. He received a second master's degree from Harvard in 1917 and his PhD in 1920.[1][2] His graduate work was interrupted by World War I, during which he served as a second lieutenant and worked on a wartime project with Kohler and others on Lewisite from late 1917 to the end of the conflict in 1918.[1][2]

Smith was appointed as an instructor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota – not yet a major research institution in chemistry at the time – following the completion of his PhD in 1920. By 1932 he had become full professor and the chief of the organic division of the department of chemistry, a position he would occupy for over 25 years. His work in this position is recognized as influential in establishing the university's role in organic chemistry research.[1][2][3] Starting in 1932 he recruited young scientists to expand the department, including C. Frederick Koelsch, Paul Doughty Bartlett, and later Richard T. Arnold.[1] Smith stepped down from his chief position in 1958 and was succeeded by William E. Parham, and retired fully in 1960.[1][2][3] Throughout his academic career Smith also worked as an industry consultant with Merck & Co. and General Mills.[1][2]

Smith served on a number of editorial boards and was the president of the American Chemical Society's organic division in 1941–2. He was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1944.[1][2]

Smith is best known for his synthesis of vitamin E in 1939. He also published extensively on related tocopherol compounds. He was also the first to publish a synthesis of a bicyclopropyl ketone. In addition his research group studied alkylbenzenes, benzoquinones, and the Jacobsen rearrangement.[1][2]