Moeller, Therald | University of Illinois Archives

Therald Moeller (1913-1997) was instructor (1940-42); associate (1942-43); assistant professor (1943-46); associate professor (1946-53); and professor (1953-69) of general and inorganic chemistry at the University of Illinois (UI). He was renowned for his contributions to the chemistry of rare-earth elements and for his influential role as educator in the field of inorganic chemistry.

Moeller was born in North Bend, Oregon, on April 3, 1913. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State College (1934) and a PhD in inorganic and physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin (1938). Over the course of his career, he held positions at Michigan State College (1938-40), UI (1940-69), and Arizona State University (1969-97). He was widely appreciated for his teaching ability and supervised the research of around 100 students. He authored 281 publications, including 22 educational books and manuals. Inorganic Chemistry, an Advanced Text (1957) was highly influential in the expansion of the field. In 1959, Moeller cofounded the American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry and later served as its chairman in 1961. He was also president and a member of the Board of Directors of Inorganic Syntheses, Inc.

Therald Moeller married Ellyn Stephenson on May 17, 1935, and they had three children. He died on November 24, 1997, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Sources:

Juvet, R. S., "Moeller, Therald (1913-1997)," Department of Chemistry, accessed May 8, 2020, https://chemistry.illinois.edu/spotlight/faculty/moeller-therald-1913-1997.

"Therald Moeller," Prabook, accessed May 8, 2020,  https://prabook.com/web/therald.moeller/1693889.