Max Tishler

Max Tishler
Born	October 30, 1906 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	March 18, 1989 Middletown, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Fields	Organic chemistry, Process chemistry, Fermentation
Institutions	Harvard University, Merck & Co, Wesleyan University
Alma mater	Tufts College
Doctoral advisor	Elmer P. Kohler
Known for	riboflavin industrial synthesis, cortisone industrial synthesis , sulfaquinoxaline, penicillin
Notable awards	National Medal of Science, Priestley Medal

Max Tishler (October 30, 1906 – March 18, 1989) was a scientist at Merck & Co. who led the research teams that synthesized ascorbic acid, riboflavin, cortisone, miamin, pyridoxin, pantothenic acid, nicotinamide, methionine, threonine, and tryptophan. He also led a microbiological group that developed the fermentation processes for actinomycin D, vitamin B₁₂, streptomycin, and penicillin. Tishler invented sulfaquinoxaline for the treatment for coccidiosis.

Biography

He was born in Boston on October 30, 1906. He was the fifth of six children of European immigrants. His father worked as a cobbler and he abandoned the family in 1911, when Max was five years old. Max worked in a pharmacy during the flu pandemic of 1918. He studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Tufts College, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.^[1]

In 1934 he earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University. He taught for three years at Harvard, then in 1937, he took a position at Merck. His first research assignment at Merck was to develop an economical process for producing riboflavin. In the 1940s he developed a process for the mass-production of cortisone.

In 1970 he retired from Merck, and joined the chemistry department at Wesleyan University. He died in Middletown, Connecticut in 1989. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, his son Peter and daughter-in-law Sigrid, his son Carl and daughter-in-law Bonnie, 3 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

Education

• B.S. Chemistry, Tufts College, 1928, magna cum laude
• M.A. Chemistry, Harvard University, 1933
• Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, Harvard University, 1934

Research Advisor: Elmer P. Kohler, Dissertation title: "I. The reduction of alpha halo-ketones. II. The action of organic magnesium halides on alpha halo-ketones and on alpha halo-sulfones."

Honors

• Priestley Medal
• National Medal of Science
• National Inventors Hall of Fame

External links

• National Academy of Science: Max Tishler

References

1. ^ Membership Directory, 2010, Pi Lambda Phi Inc.

Persondata
Name	Tishler, Max
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 30, 1906
Place of birth	Boston, Massachusetts
Date of death	March 18, 1989
Place of death	Middletown, Connecticut