Charles A. Kraus

Charles August Kraus (1875-1967) was an American physical chemist born in Knightsville, Indiana, who earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas in 1898 and his doctorate from MIT in 1908. He held professorships and directed the chemical laboratories at Clark University and later Brown University, led the Chemical Warfare Service at Clark during the First World War, and consulted for the Manhattan Project. His research on the physical chemistry of liquid ammonia systems, metallo-organic compounds and conductance in non-aqueous solvents advanced understanding of solvated electrons and contributed to developments in ultraviolet lamps, Pyrex glass and leaded gasoline production, and he published more than 225 papers. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1939, and received the Priestley Medal in 1950, the Franklin Medal in 1938 and the Willard Gibbs Medal in 1935.