Robert C. West is E. G. Rochow Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; Director of the Organosilicon Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison 1999–present; President, Silatronix, Incorporated.
Education
West received his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Cornell University in 1950, proceeding on to Harvard University where he received his Master of Arts in 1952 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1954. At Cornell, he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society.
Career
West is an instrument-rated pilot with over 2500 hours as pilot-in-command. He is a mountaineer, with over 50 first ascents in the mountains of British Columbia. In 1972, along with Anne Nicol Gaylor, he co-founded the Women"s Medical Fund to help Wisconsin women pay for abortions.
His international interests have led to extensive collaborative research with chemistry departments in major universities in countries including Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, of Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway and Russia.
Many of his over 600 publications have been in collaboration with scientists in countries outside the United States of America.
Politics
He is known for his eccentric lifestyle, liberal political views, and activism for women"s reproductive rights both in the United States and internationally.
Views
Quotations:
"double-bond rule".
Membership
At Cornell, he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society.