Max Tishler

Max Tishler (October 30, 1906 – March 18, 1989) was president of Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories where he led the research teams that synthesized ascorbic acid, riboflavin, cortisone, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, nicotinamide, methionine, threonine, and tryptophan. He also developed the fermentation processes for actinomycin, vitamin B₁₂, streptomycin, and penicillin. Tishler invented sulfaquinoxaline for the treatment for coccidiosis.[1]

Max Tishler
Born	October 30, 1906 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	March 18, 1989(1989-03-18) (aged 82) Middletown, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Tufts College
Known for	riboflavin industrial synthesis, cortisone industrial synthesis, sulfaquinoxaline, penicillin
Children	Peter Verveer Tishler Carl Lewis Tishler
Awards	IRI Medal (1961) National Medal of Science (1987) Priestley Medal

Biography

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 30, 1906. His father repaired shoes and he abandoned the family in 1911. Max worked in a pharmacy during the flu pandemic of 1918. He studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Tufts College, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.[2][1]

In 1934 he earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University. He married Elizabeth M. Verveer in 1934. He taught at Harvard from 1934 to 1937. His son, Peter Verveer Tishler, was born on July 18, 1937. In 1937, he took a position at Merck. His first project at Merck was to produce riboflavin. In the 1940s he developed a process for the synthesis of cortisone.[1]

In 1970 he retired from Merck, and taught chemistry at Wesleyan University.[1]

He died of emphysema at Middlesex Memorial Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut on March 18, 1989.[3]

Education

• B.S. Chemistry, Tufts College, 1928, magna cum laude
• M.A. Chemistry, Harvard University, 1933
• Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, Harvard University, 1934

Research Advisor: Elmer P. Kohler, Dissertation title: "I. The reduction of alpha halo-ketones. II. The action of organic magnesium halides on alpha halo-ketones and on alpha halo-sulfones."

Honors

• Chemical Pioneer Award (1968)
• Priestley Medal (1970)
• American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (1977)
• National Medal of Science
• National Inventors Hall of Fame
• IRI Medal

References

1. Lewis Hastings Sarett and Clyde Roche. "Max Tishler". New York Times. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2011-12-15. Born in Boston in 1906, he was the fifth of six children of European immigrants. ...
2. Membership Directory, 2010, Pi Lambda Phi Inc.
3. "Max Tishler Is Dead. Pioneer in Making Of Cortisone Was 82". New York Times. March 20, 1989. Retrieved 2011-12-15. Max Tishler, a pharmaceutical scientist who led in the development of drugs to treat arthritis and other diseases, died of complications of emphysema Saturday at Middlesex Memorial Hospital in Middletown, Conn. He was 82 years old and a Middletown resident. ...