The Eyring Legacy

The University of Utah and the College of Science commemorated the life and legacy of Dr. Henry Eyring and his three sons, Edward M. “Ted” Eyring, Henry B. Eyring, and Harden R. Eyring, during a gala event in April 2009.

Coming to Utah

In January 1946, Dr. A. Ray Olpin, a physicist, became the seventh president of the University of Utah. He recruited a number of senior people to his administration who also became faculty members in various academic departments. Two of these administrators were chemists: Dr. Henry Eyring from Princeton University and Dr. Carl J. Christensen from Bell Laboratories.

Although Eyring had already established a remarkable career at Princeton, including publishing two influential textbooks, The Theory of Rate Processes (1941) and Quantum Chemistry (1944), he accepted the offer.

In Utah, Eyring was hired to create a graduate school in the sciences. When he arrived in late summer 1946, the university had not yet awarded a single doctorate degree. Eyring got busy.

In his first ten years at the U, Eyring provided great leadership to the graduate programs at the university, and the research programs in the chemistry department in particular. In addition, his own strong research lab attracted key personnel like Ransom Parlin, Bill Cagle, and Austin Wahrhaftig, all of whom joined the faculty and launched their own research programs. Eyring also recruited many talented graduate students to his program such as H. Tracy Hall, J. Calvin Giddings, and Arthur L. Ruoff.

The first PhD from the University of Utah was awarded in 1947, in chemistry, to James Sugihara. By 1956, the university had awarded 208 PhDs, and was averaging 45 to 50 doctorate degrees each year.

Henry received the university’s Distinguished Research Award in 1966 and was appointed a distinguished professor of chemistry in 1968. He also served as president of the American Chemical Society for two years, and received the National Medal of Science. In December 1980, the university gave the name of Henry Eyring to the chemistry building.

At the building dedication, Henry told the following facetious story:

‘As I was dozing lightly in my office some weeks ago, in walked [university] President [David P.] Gardner, unannounced, with one of the Regents. They strode around me and my desk several times, clucking softly and looking at me very closely. Finally, President Gardner said to the Regent, ‘Yes, I think he is close enough,’ and the two of them exited my office without another word. They evidently concluded on that occasion that I was near enough dead that I could cause the university no further embarrassment if they named a building after me.’

Henry died in late December 1981 while still serving as a full-time faculty member in chemistry. He was literally a legend in his own time.

The Eyring Legacy

Henry Eyring taught at the U from 1946 to 1981. A Nobel nominee, he received 15 honorary doctoral degrees from the world’s top universities and more than 24 national and international awards and honors, including the National Medal of Science. His textbooks are considered bibles in their fields. His accomplishments, and those of hundreds of his students, continue to have an extraordinary impact on science and education throughout the world.

Henry produced 85 PhD students at the U. Of those 85, nearly half entered academia and established their own research programs and produced another 383 PhD students (known to date).

In addition, when one considers that each of Henry’s three sons also has had a distinguished career and a life of great accomplishment in science, education, and public service, “it is impossible to calculate the full breadth of the Eyring legacy, because the contribution is still being manifest,” says Richard E. Kendell, former commissioner of higher education in Utah.

Henry Eyring by the numbers:

3	Children (see profiles, below)	Henry Eyring Academic Genealogy Tree
85	PhD students
422	Published scientific papers
1	National Medal of Science
2	Published textbooks
1	Published autobiography
15	Honorary doctoral degrees
24	Major national and international awards

The Henry Eyring Legacy Fund

In conjunction with the April tribute event, the College of Science has established the Henry Eyring Legacy Fund to honor the legacy of Henry Eyring by supporting undergraduate and graduate education in chemistry at the U. Gifts that are designated to this fund will be used to advance the education of chemistry majors, including improving facilities, providing scholarships, and making possible other enhancements in the teaching and learning of chemistry.

Visit www.ugive.utah.edu to support this fund and honor the memory of this remarkable educator.

Henry’s Three Sons

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The mentor for hundreds of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students, Edward M. “Ted” Eyring has been on the faculty of the University of Utah’s Department of Chemistry since 1961. Ted is the author or co-author of more than 300 professional publications in chemistry. In 1991, he received the U’s Distinguished Research Award, and in 1997 he was given the ASUU Student Choice Award.

Henry B. Eyring is First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He earned a bachelor of science degree in physics at the U, and an M.B.A and Ph.D degree in business administration at the Harvard Business School. He was on the faculty of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and also served as president of Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.

Harden R. Eyring has pursued a career in service to others. He obtained a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the U and a J.D. in law from Columbia University. He was hired by Utah’s first higher education commissioner to work for the State Board of Regents. He has served for nearly 40 years as assistant commissioner for Administrative Services and Human Resources. in the state of Utah.