Kathryn Grove Shipp
Kathryn Grove Shipp (1904 – October 14, 1977) was an American organic chemist, a specialist in explosives, affiliated with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory from 1957 to 1970. In 1967, she was one of the six recipients of the Federal Woman's Award.
Kathryn Grove Shipp | |
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![]() Kathryn Grove Shipp, from a 1967 publication of the Department of the Navy. | |
Born | Kathryn Elmira Grove 1904 Annandale, Pennsylvania |
Died | October 14, 1977 Tiburon, California |
Occupation | Chemist |
Known for | Federal Woman's Award (1967), patents on explosives |
Early life
Kathryn Elmira Grove was born in Annandale, Pennsylvania.[1] She and her sister Ruth were raised in the household of an uncle and aunt, William Smith Conner[2] and Carolyn W. Conner,[3] in Madera, California, after their parents died. She graduated from Madera High School in 1921 and from Mills College in 1925, where she studied under Aurelia Henry Reinhardt.[4] She completed her doctorate in organic chemistry at Yale University in 1930,[5][6] with a postdoctoral year of further studies at Oxford on a National Research Council fellowship.[7] While at Yale, she was the first woman graduate student to hold the Dupont Fellowship in Chemistry.[8]
Career
Shipp was an assistant instructor in chemistry at Vassar College in 1925.[4] She left paid employment for 26 years to raise her children, before returning to laboratory chemistry in 1957,[9] when she joined the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in White Oak, Maryland.[6][1] In 1964, she developed hexanitrostilbene (HNS), a vacuum-tolerant, heat-insensitive explosive used for seismic experiments on the moon, during the Apollo program.[5][1] "Here I am, a horse and buggy chemist, working in a nuclear age," she commented on her career in 1967.[6] She retired from the Naval Research Laboratory in 1970.[1]
Awards and patents
Shipp received the Navy's Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1962.[1] In 1967, she was one of the six recipients of the Federal Woman's Award,[10][11] presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson.[12] That same year, Mills College presented Shipp with an honorary Doctor of Law degree.[13][14]
Shipp held at least six patents,[15] on chemicals or processes of preparing chemicals, including "Preparation of 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzyl halides" (1966),[16] hexanitrostilbene (1970)[17] and polynitrobenzophenone (1971, with her colleague Lloyd A. Kaplan).[18]
Personal life
Kathryn Grove married fellow chemist Joseph Harrel Shipp in 1932.[19] They had four children together before they divorced.[6] She died from a heart attack on October 14, 1977, aged 73 years, in Tiburon, California.[20]
References
- "She Helped Apollo Mission". The News Journal. August 13, 1970. p. 10. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "W. S. Conner, Longtime Maderan, Dies At Age 93". Madera Tribune. March 26, 1959. p. 1. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- "Funeral Today For Mrs. Conner Who Died Friday". Madera Tribune. April 14, 1958. p. 1. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- "Miss Kathryn Grove Receives Honor". Madera Mercury. February 27, 1925. p. 2. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- "Dr. Kathryn Shipp Explosive Expert". Madera Tribune. January 6, 1967. p. 3. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- Hutchinson, Louise (May 25, 1967). "About Women in Washington". Chicago Tribune. p. 99. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Research Council Fellowships". Report of the National Research Council. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1930–1931. p. 83.CS1 maint: date format (link)
- "Former Madera Girl is Honored at Yale". Madera Tribune. April 10, 1930. p. 2. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- "New Explosive Set for Moon". The Morning News. January 10, 1967. p. 3. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Government Career Women To Receive Federal Award". The Chicago Defender. February 11, 1967. p. 20 – via ProQuest.
- Field, Simon Quellen (2017-07-01). Boom!: The Chemistry and History of Explosives. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613738085.
- B, Johnson, Lyndon (1968-01-01). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1967. Best Books on. pp. 288–290. ISBN 9781623768959.
- "Kathryn Shipp Honored at Mills". Madera Mercury. June 21, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- Reed, Elaine (June 12, 1967). "Mills Honorees Look Back on Careers". Oakland Tribune. p. 16. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- "Dr. Kathryn Shipp, Winner of Federal Woman's Award". Naval Research Reviews: 9. March 1967.
- Preparation of 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzyl halides (1964), patent application filed by Kathryn G. Shipp; application granted 1966, U. S. Patent Office. US3267159A.
- Hexanitrostilbene (1964), patent application filed by Kathryn G. Shipp; application granted 1970, U. S. Patent Office, US3505413A.
- Polynitrobenzophenone (1967), patent application filed by Kathryn G. Shipp and Lloyd A. Kaplan; application granted 1971, U. S. Patent Office; US3574758A.
- "Shipp-Grove". The News Journal. June 27, 1932. p. 10. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Dr. Kathryn Shipp; Discovery Helped in Moon Landing". The News Journal. October 26, 1977. p. 51. Retrieved September 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.