Lewis Hastings Sarett

He was born in Champaign, Illinois. His father was renowned Jewish poet and professor Lew Sarett,[1] and he was also an uncle of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.[2] He lived in Laona, Wisconsin for a time and then attended high school in Highland Park, Illinois . He received a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University in 1939 (Phi Beta Kappa) and his doctorate from Princeton University.

He worked for Merck & Co. for 38 years retiring in 1982. He invented a Process of Treating Pregnene Compounds Cortisone, Patent Number 2,462,133.

Named after him is the Sarett Oxidation which is the oxidation of an alcohol to a ketone or an aldehyde using chromic oxide and pyridine. Primary alcohols will be oxidised to aldehydes and not carboxylic acids.

• 1964 Scheele Award
• 1972 Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists [3]
• 1975 National Medal of Science
• 1976 Perkin Medal
• 1980 Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
• 1980 Awarded the IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute for his contributions to technology leadership
• 1981 American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal

• Lewis Hastings Sarett December 22, 1917–November 29, 1999 By Arthur A. Patchett
• Inventors hall of fame
• http://www.todayinsci.com/12/12_22.htm
• New York Times Obituary, December 27, 1999.