William E. Wallace

Who was William E. Wallace?

William E. Wallace, known as Ed Wallace to his friends and associates, was a preeminent physical chemist whose career coincided with the golden age of chemistry. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Mississippi College in 1936, and a Ph. D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 1941. As many prominent scientists of his era, he worked on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, but he returned to the University of Pittsburgh as a faculty member in 1945. He remained there for the rest of his career, eventually becoming the fourth chairman of the chemistry department from 1963–1977, and then a Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus. He formally retired from the university in 1983, but his research continued. He was associated with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, and he started a research corporation in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh with offices on an upper floor of a building on North Bellefield Avenue, midway between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. He was accustomed to taking the stairs to his office, sometimes two at a time, while his younger colleagues struggled to keep up with him.