UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “Why would a chemist make a hazardous material in the first place,” said John Warner, president and CEO of The Technology Greenhouse and co-founder of the field of green chemistry at the fifth quadrennial Whitmore Lecture on Chemistry Education and Public Policy.
The Frank Whitmore Lecture on Chemistry Education and Public Policy honors Frank C. Whitmore, dean of the Penn State School of Chemistry and Physics from 1929 to 1947. The lecture recognizes Whitmore's service to the American Chemical Society.
In his presentation, “Green Chemistry: The Missing Elements,” Warner spoke about his experience co-founding the field of green chemistry and his journey in chemistry. The field of green chemistry focuses on reducing or eliminating hazardous materials at the design stage of a materials process.
“What could be more important to the field of chemistry than some fundamental training on how do you anticipate the relationship between molecular structure to how it behaves in the human health environment,” he asked. “So maybe instead of focusing solely on how we make molecules, maybe we should talk about how we make chemists.”
Warner also discussed how the next generation of chemists can work to make a safer and more sustainable future.
“Zero chemistry materials programs on the planet required demonstration of any knowledge of molecular mechanisms of toxicity or environmental impact,” he said. “So, Paul [my co-founder] and I, realized the world didn't need a philosophy, the world didn't need a social movement. The world needed a fundamental mechanistic science.”
Warner was one of three lecturers to speak at the 52nd Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting, which celebrated the quarter-millennial anniversary of the discovery of oxygen. Over four days, more than 600 chemists attended this meeting where they toured Penn State facilities, listened to technical oral sessions, watched a play about the nearby discovery of oxygen in 1774, and networked.