Marinus Los

The interview begins with Dr. Marinus Los' description of his family's origins in The Netherlands. When he was two years old, his family moved to England, where he received his early education during World War II. Encouraged by his older brother, Los studied chemistry at Edinburgh University, where he first became interested in biochemistry. He conducted his Ph.D. research on heterocyclic analogs of azulene under W. H. Stafford. Stafford encouraged Los to study at the National Research Council in Canada. There, he conducted research in the structural chemistry of alkaloids and plants under Leo E. Marion. In 1960, Los became a research chemist at Lederle Laboratories, now a division of the American Cyanamid Company. Under Milon E. Bullock, he conducted early research on insect control via an insect molting hormone discovered by Dr. Peter Karlson. Los also worked on a synthetic steroid project involving anabolic steroids and artificial insemination for cows. He briefly returned to Edinburgh University's Department of Pharmacology to organize a research program in prostaglandins. On returning to American Cyanamid, led at the time by George J. Sella, Jr., Los switched to research on herbicides. In his research on plant growth regulators (PGRs), Los's work on imidazolinones led to the herbicides Assert, Arsenal and Pursuit. This work won him the National Medal of Technology. Los ends the interview by discussing his later career as first Senior Group Leader and then Research Director, focusing on his approach to the encouragement of teamwork at American Cyanamid.

National Research Council of Canada

1958 - 1960 Research Fellow

Edinburgh University

1969 - 1970 Senior Research Fellow, Department of Pharmacology

American Cyanamid Company

1960 - 1971 Senior Research Chemist

American Cyanamid Company

1971 - 1984 Group Leader, Organic Synthesis

American Cyanamid Company

1984 - 1986 Senior Group Leader, Herbicide Discovery

American Cyanamid Company

1986 - 1988 Manager, Crop Protection Chemical Discovery

American Cyanamid Company

1988 - 1992 Associate Director, Crop Sciences

American Cyanamid Company

1992 - 1996 Research Director, Crop Sciences Discovery

American Cyanamid Company

1996 - Present Retired

James J. Bohning

James J. Bohning is professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he was a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and has presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was the foundation’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. He is currently a visiting research scientist and CESAR Fellow at Lehigh University. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.

Bernadette R. McNulty

Bernadette R. McNulty, former oral history project manager for the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF), holds a B.A. in communications and social work and an M.A. and Ph.D. in communications. She held several teaching and research-related appointments, including positions at Muhlenberg and Rowan Colleges and Temple University, before joining CHF's oral history program in 1994.