William Bailey Papers

• 1942–1989
• American
  Created and used by William Bailey
• 88 linear feet
  Papers, photographs
• Gift of Mary C. Bailey
• 90:01
• Copyright restrictions may apply (contact CHF archivist).

Description

Includes correspondence, notebooks, scrapbooks, and photographs related to the career of William Bailey.

Background note
William "Bill" Bailey (1921–1989) was born on August 11, 1921. He was a polymer chemist, an administrator, and a teacher. He made several important discoveries, most notably the first synthesis of an all-trans diene polymer, and he worked extensively in the area of ring-opening polymerization and degradable polymers. Bill Bailey, a student of Carl "Speed" Marvel’s at the University of Illinois, received his Ph.D. in 1946. He spent most of his career at the University of Maryland, College Park. He died short of retirement from the university in December 1989.

Bailey is remembered for his threefold contributions as a polymer chemist, an American Chemical Society administrator, and a teacher.