Alan Schriesheim
Encyclopedia
Dr. Alan Schriesheim, Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 is The Director Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

 and the retired CEO of Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...

, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers. In a January 2008 announcement issued by Penn State University upon the establishment of the Schriesheim Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, it was noted that "Schriesheim is an internationally acclaimed chemist and technology executive. With a career spanning 50 years in industry, academia, and government, Schriesheim was a pioneer in transforming large and highly complex research organizations to yield productive commercialized technology.

Early Childhood and Education

Alan Schriesheim was born in 1930 in Far Rockaway (Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

), New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 in 1948 where he played football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

. Schriesheim graduated from Penn State in 1954 with a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, having earned his bachelor's degree from The Polytechnic Institute of New York University (known then as Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute) in 1951. He was the first person in his family to attend college, his father had a 6th grade education and was a furntiture store manager.

Career Summary

Schriesheim joined The National Bureau of Standards (renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...

) as a research chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

 immediately after graduating with his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 and worked there from 1954 to 1956. Schriesheim joined Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....

 in 1956 and worked there for 27 years until 1982, rising through the organization to become general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

 of Exxon Engineering and director of Exxon Corporate Research. In 1983, he became director and CEO of the Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...

, while also holding a dual appointment as a Professor of Chemistry at The University of Chicago, retiring in 1996. He was the first director of a major national laboratory to have an extensive industrial background.

Schriesheim at Argonne 1984-1996: Years of Renewal at Argonne

This section is from Argonne's Official History.

"In the early 1980s, Argonne's fate was very much in doubt. Devastating declines in funding, morale and staff had left the laboratory vulnerable and directionless. A special person was needed to reverse Argonne's fortunes -- someone with the management skills to arrest the declines, with the vision to propel Argonne forward and the credibility needed to be heard and believed. Just when the gloom hung thickest, such a person emerged. Not only did he come to Argonne, he stayed—becoming the longest-serving director in the laboratory's history, retiring July 1, 1996.

With the demise of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project
Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project
The Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project was a joint effort of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. electric power industry to design and construct a sodium-cooled fast-neutron nuclear reactor...

 and cutbacks resulting from policy changes that occurred as a result of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

's election, morale at Argonne
Argonne
Argonne may refer to:*The Forest of Argonne in France*Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. D.O.E. National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois*Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of Argonne Forest, a World War I battle*Argonne, Wisconsin, a town, US...

 plummeted. The lab had just lost the competition for an electron accelerator. The laboratory was believed to be in imminent danger of closure. The need to refocus the lab's mission and to develop a new portfolio of initiatives was essential.

Alan Schriesheim, a research chemist and top executive at Exxon Research and Engineering Company, became the first industry executive to head a national laboratory. His appointment to direct Argonne
Argonne
Argonne may refer to:*The Forest of Argonne in France*Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. D.O.E. National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois*Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of Argonne Forest, a World War I battle*Argonne, Wisconsin, a town, US...

 signaled a new emphasis on strategic initiatives. Schriesheim was faced with three significant challenges: restructure the laboratory and undertake a campaign of fresh initiatives; increase funding and rebuild relations with Congress; and repair morale among a highly talented staff. He took a strategic approach, reorganizing the laboratory into "thematic" areas that brought projects together in more logical, interlocking groupings. He identified talented managers and established assistant directorships to run strategic divisions. He streamlined government relations and used his political savvy and Washington contacts to forge a strong relationship with Congress.

And he enlisted his wife, Beatrice, to help him with the critical morale-building effort. Schriesheim recalled the Argonne
Argonne
Argonne may refer to:*The Forest of Argonne in France*Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. D.O.E. National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois*Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of Argonne Forest, a World War I battle*Argonne, Wisconsin, a town, US...

 campus as "a grungy place " when he arrived in 1983. He asked his wife to get involved in the upgrade of the physical plant, believing it important for staff to take pride in their working environment. During the past decade, renovation projects have included the Freund Lodge, cafeteria and main auditorium. as well as numerous meeting rooms. The site was landscaped, and new signs ordered. The Visitors' Reception Center was erected. A much-needed child development center and program was put in place. Also, in order to enhance the sense of community, an Arts at Argonne program was initiated consisting of two elements: a chamber music series and a jazz and blues concert series.

Meanwhile, Schriesheim worked to increase funding for key programs: the Integral Fast Reactor
Integral Fast Reactor
The Integral Fast Reactor is a design for a nuclear reactor using fast neutrons and no neutron moderator . IFR is distinguished by a nuclear fuel cycle that uses reprocessing via electrorefining at the reactor site.The U.S...

, superconductivity
Superconductivity
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...

, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 and biostructural science, environmental science
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...

 and technology, and advanced computing among others. The lab's budget doubled and staff grew substantially as a result of the initiatives.

Another goal, to couple basic research with commercial development, was accomplished through various initiatives including (with Walter Massey, the previous lab director) the establishment of ARCH Development Corp.— a joint venture with the University of Chicago. Most importantly, the strategic initiative thrust was rewarded when Argonne
Argonne
Argonne may refer to:*The Forest of Argonne in France*Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. D.O.E. National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois*Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of Argonne Forest, a World War I battle*Argonne, Wisconsin, a town, US...

 was chosen as the site of the Advanced Photon Source
Advanced Photon Source
The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is a national synchrotron-radiation light source research facility funded by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science...

, a major national user facility involving industry, academia and the government. As Schriesheim later reflected, Argonne had become "a corporate laboratory for the nation." As befits a major national institution, Schriesheim fostered strong ties between the lab and the educational community. This effort was highlighted by an innovative Chicago Science Explorers program developed with PBS newsman Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...

. Schriesheim also concerned himself with the role of women and minorities and fostered the development of a women-in-science program which has been replicated in other labs.

He also rebuilt the lab's fragile infrastructure, which was not geared up to support major new projects. And he delegated. Once the lab's divisions were reorganized, talented managers were made responsible for their areas and were given the resources to run them. His intent was to make each thematic area "a tub on its own bottom." This was especially true of the Advanced Photon Source
Advanced Photon Source
The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is a national synchrotron-radiation light source research facility funded by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science...

—a lab within a lab—that Schriesheim believes "will span several generations of directors and changes of Washington administrations." The project's expected longevity looms even more critical in light of the 1994 Congressional decision to halt the lab's inherently safe, efficient, waste-recycling Integral Fast Reactor
Integral Fast Reactor
The Integral Fast Reactor is a design for a nuclear reactor using fast neutrons and no neutron moderator . IFR is distinguished by a nuclear fuel cycle that uses reprocessing via electrorefining at the reactor site.The U.S...

 program just as it was on the verge of proving its capabilities. Nevertheless, Schriesheim believes, Argonne must continue to generate initiatives—more, even, than can possibly be funded—if it hopes to celebrate the anniversary of its second 50 years. As Schriesheim puts it, the laboratory "must undertake prime responsibility for its own survival." With its long history of winning important programs and adjusting to change, there is every reason to believe that Argonne will continue to be an essential element of the U.S. science and technology resource base for many years to come."

Awards and Notable Highlights

While at Exxon, he won the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...

's George Olah award for research in petroleum chemistry in 1969.

Schriesheim served on several public corporate boards, many university and government advisory committees, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...

 and holds 22 U.S. patents.

He received several honorary doctorate degrees including a 2001 honorary degree in science from Penn State, and in 2005 he was named a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor the University can bestow on its graduates.

He is a member of the board of directors of publicly traded HEICO
HEICO
HEICO Corporation is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of aerospace, defense and electronics related products and services throughout the world. The Company’s customer base is primarily the Commercial aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunication and electronic industries...

, an aerospace and defense electronics company, and was a former board member of Sun Electric Company and of Rohm and Haas
Rohm and Haas
Rohm and Haas Company, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based company, manufactures miscellaneous materials. Formerly a Fortune 500 Company, Rohm and Haas employs more than 17,000 people in 27 countries, with its last sales revenue reported as an independent company at USD 8.9 billion. On July 10,...

 a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...

 chemical company.

He holds honorary degrees from Penn State, Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...

 and Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...

 and is a board member of Children's Memorial Hospital
Children's Memorial Hospital
Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois is a pediatric hospital. The main hospital is located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on the north side of the city. With more than 1,100 physicians on staff and approximately 4,000 employees, Children’s Memorial focuses on 70 specialties in 17...

 in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Schriesheim continues to reside in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and is president of The Chicago Council on Science and Technology.

In 1987 Argonne
Argonne
Argonne may refer to:*The Forest of Argonne in France*Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. D.O.E. National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois*Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of Argonne Forest, a World War I battle*Argonne, Wisconsin, a town, US...

 Director and CEO Alan Schriesheim demonstrated high-temperature superconductivity
High-temperature superconductivity
High-temperature superconductors are materials that have a superconducting transition temperature above . From 1960 to 1980, 30 K was thought to be the highest theoretically possible Tc...

 to U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 at a 1987 superconductor applications meeting.
In 1996 Schriesheim became a Lincoln Laureate and was awarded The Order of Lincoln by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois - the highest honor awarded by the State of Illinois. Other notable Lincoln Laureates include 1981 Laureate U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 LeRoy Neiman
LeRoy Neiman
LeRoy Neiman is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, pseudo-expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events.- Early years :...

, Olympic Gold Medal winner Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...

, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Scott Turow
Scott Turow
Scott F. Turow is an American author and a practicing lawyer. Turow has written eight fiction and two nonfiction books, which have been translated into over 20 languages and have sold over 25 million copies...

, scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

 and Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman
Leon M. Lederman
Leon Max Lederman is an American experimental physicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work with neutrinos. He is Director Emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, USA...

, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...

, architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....

, .

According to the Official History of The Lincoln Academy:

"The Order of Lincoln was established in 1964 by Proclamation of Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to honor individuals whose contributions to the betterment of humanity have been accomplished in Illinois, or, whose achievements have brought honor to the state because of their identity with it, whether by birth or residence, or whose dedication to the principles of public service inspire all Illinoisans to respond to what Lincoln called 'the better angels of our nature'. To insure that no political connotation should surround the award, an independent, non-partisan entity was established to administer the program. Thus, the Order of Lincoln and the Lincoln Academy (based respectively upon the French Legion of Honor and the French Academy) were established, with Michael Butler, the Academy's first chancellor, as its primary architect. In 1989, as part of the Academy's twenty-fifth anniversary, Governor James R. Thompson declared the Order of Lincoln to be 'the state's highest award' and every Illinois Governor since then has so described it. Each honoree receives a warrant signed by the Governor and bearing the Great Seal of the State of Illinois, certifying his or her investiture as a Laureate of the Order of Lincoln."

Wife Beatrice Schriesheim and Children

He and Beatrice, his late wife of fifty years, met while they were both graduate students in Chemistry at Penn State. Beatrice Schriesheim (née Brand) was born in 1930 in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and survived the Holocaust by escaping the Nazi invasion in 1939 and surviving imprisonment in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 . She arrived in the U.S. in 1947 and received her undergraduate degree from Queen's College
Queen's College
Queen's College, Queens' College or Queens College is the name of more than one institution, typically in the United Kingdom or its former colonies and dependencies.Most widely known Queens Colleges:...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 before attending Penn State's Graduate School . She was a long-time high school chemistry teacher who was committed to her students as well as to the improvement of science education in the United States . She played a leadership role in the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) organization. Her memoirs, “Bea's Journey”, documented her Holocaust journey and her life in the United States . They were published in 2003 after her death at the age of 73. She shared her husband's affection and enthusiasm for the University and for helping outstanding students through scholarship support. Alan and Bea Schriesheim had two children, Laura Lyn and Robert A. Schriesheim, and six grandchildren.

Philanthropy

The Schriesheim Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, according to a press release issued by The Penn State University, was established at Penn State University by Penn State alumnus Alan Schriesheim in January 2008 who gave $250,000 to the Eberly College of Science
Eberly College of Science
The Eberly College of Science is the science college of Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1859 by Jacob S. Whitman, professor of natural science. The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degree programs in the basic sciences.Daniel J...

 to create a Distinguished Graduate Fellowship.

According to the January 2008 Penn State press release, The fellowship, named for the donor and his late wife, Beatrice “Bea” Schriesheim, will help the Eberly College of Science
Eberly College of Science
The Eberly College of Science is the science college of Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1859 by Jacob S. Whitman, professor of natural science. The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degree programs in the basic sciences.Daniel J...

 to recruit academically talented first-year graduate students who are pursuing doctoral degrees, according to Dean Daniel Larson. First preference will be given to students majoring in chemistry.

Penn State's Distinguished Graduate Fellowship program is a University-wide program that aims to attract the nation's most capable graduate students. When a fellowship is fully funded at its $250,000 minimum, the University, through the Graduate School and the fellowship's affiliate college, will match the endowment's annual spendable income in perpetuity, thus increasing the amount available to the recipient in the form of tuition aid, a stipend, and health insurance.

“The Schriesheim Fellowship will have an impact that will last beyond our lifetimes and will influence bright students and future discoveries,” said Larson. “We are grateful to Alan for recognizing the value of such a fellowship to the Eberly College and to generations of its students.”
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