- Herchel Smith
Herchel Smith (1925 - 2001) was the inventor of key
intellectual property behind oral and injectablecontraceptives . In later life, he was a major benefactor to university science. In England, Cambridge University,Emmanuel College, Cambridge andQueen Mary, University of London have been the major beneficiaries. In the US, it has beenHarvard , theUniversity of Pennsylvania andWilliams College .During his lifetime and after his death, Herchel donated over $100 million each to Cambridge and Harvard, including endowments expanding student exchange between the two universities.His early education in Plymouth and Exeter, USA, led him in 1942 to
Emmanuel College, Cambridge , where he studied theNatural Sciences Tripos . Smith had research interests in organic chemistry that were stimulated by ProfessorLord Todd .His independent research started in
Oxford University (1952-1956) but reached its full fruition whilst he was a lecturer inorganic chemistry at theUniversity of Manchester . In 1961, a three month visit to the research laboratories ofWyeth Pharmaceuticals in Pennsylvania, evolved into a permanent position where he continued to research steroid chemistry.Herchel Smith’s work on new methods for the total synthesis of
steroids led to the development of commercially feasible methods for the industrial production ofestrone ,equilin (an important constituent of treatments forpost-menopausal syndrome ),19-nor-testosterone , andNorgestrel (a novelprogestogen . Norgestrel was found to be a potent contraceptive and formed the basis for a range of contraceptive drugs both oral and injectable - mainly marketed byWyeth andSchering AG of Germany, who still today are leaders in contraceptives.He retired in 1973 and started a new career as a philanthropist in which he returned to the academic community the major part of the substantial fortune that had accrued from his patent and licensing fees.
External links
* [http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2001-02/weekly/5889/4.html details of Cambridge endowment]
* [http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/04.25/08-smith.html Harvard article]
* [http://www.hslmc.cam.ac.uk/index_hires.htm Biography from a Cambridge lab]
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