Holdings Liberal Arts and Sciences School of Chemical Sciences Herbert E. Carter Papers Finding Aid Holdings Liberal Arts and Sciences School of Chemical Sciences Herbert E. Carter Papers Finding Aid Title: Herbert E. Carter Papers, 1930-90
ID: 15/5/29
Primary Creator: Carter, Herbert E. (Herbert Edmund) (1910-2007)
Extent: 2.8 cubic feet
Arrangement:
First accession by type of material (corres. & reprints) and chronological thereafter.
Second accession arranged alphabetically.
Subjects: Amino Acids, Carcinogenesis, Environmental Radiation, Faculty Papers, Food Additives, Foods, Higher Education, Illinois State Board of Higher Education, Organic Chemistry, University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study
Formats/Genres: Papers
Languages: English
Papers of Herbert Edmund Carter (1910- ), (M.S. 1931, Ph.D. 1934), professor of chemistry (1932-71), department head (1954-64), and Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs (1968-71) containing correspondence, notes, travel vouchers, brochures, reports and reprints of articles relating to food additives, carcinogenesis and Prof. Carter's service as a member of the Food Protection Committee of the National Research Council and National Academy of Science (1956-60). The series includes reprints of published articles on biological chemistry, amino acids and related subjects. The series includes minutes, correspondence and reports relating to Prof. Carter's service on the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Illinois State Board of Higher Education (1963-65), the Graduate College (1963-67), Committee on Year-Round Operations (1960-63) and the Center for Advanced Study (1966-68). This series also includes photographs (1948-80), diplomas, certificates, and honors (1930-90), and an interview transcript for the National Science Board Oral History Project (1983). For material relating to Prof. Carter's term as Vice-Chancellor, see 24/1/35.
Herbert ("Herb") Edmund Carter (1910-2007) was assistant (1931-32), instructor (1933-35), associate (1935-37), assistant professor (1937-42), associate professor (1942-45), and professor of chemistry (1945-71) at the University of Illinois (UI). He also held administrative positions as head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (1954-67), acting dean of the Graduate College (1963), and vice-chancellor for Academic Affairs (1968-71) at UI. He was a noted educator, administrator, and biochemist who pioneered the study of sphingolipids.
Carter was born in Mooresville, Indiana, on September 25, 1910, and grew up on a farm. He earned a B.A. in chemistry from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana (1930), as well as a M.S. (1931) and a PhD (1934) in organic chemistry from UI. He was hired as an instructor at UI by William C. Rose before he completed his doctorate, and he assisted Rose in his discovery of threonine. In 1947, Carter created the term sphingolipides and established it as a new area of lipid research. He also "made major contributions to understanding the structure of other lipids, particularly the glycolipids of plants, and of amino acids and antibiotics" (Yu and Law). Carter became professor at UI in 1945, and he took on administrative roles as Head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (1954-64) and Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs (1968-71). In 1971, he left UI for the University of Arizona where he coordinated interdisciplinary programs in addition to creating and heading the first Department of Biochemistry (1977-81). Carter was recognized with an honorary degree from DePauw University (1952), membership with the National Academy of Sciences (1953), and the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (1943), among others.
Carter was married to Elizabeth W. DeWees (d. 2005) in 1933, and they had two daughters, Anne and Jean. He died on March 4, 2007.
Sources:
Wikipedia, s.v. "H. E. Carter," accessed May 8, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._E._Carter.
Robert K. Yu and John H. Law, Herbert Edmund Carter, 1910â??2007, Biographical Memoir (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 2009), accessed May 8, 2020, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/carter-herbert-e.pdf.
Amino Acids
Carcinogenesis
Environmental Radiation
Faculty Papers
Food Additives
Foods
Higher Education
Illinois State Board of Higher Education
Organic Chemistry
University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study
URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1505029.pdf
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