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IN MEMORIAM
JOHN WILLIAM MALLET
John William Mallet, professor of chemistry and member
of the first faculty of The University of Texas at Austin, died on November
7, 1912. He was 80.
Professor Mallet was born on October
10, 1832, in Dublin, Ireland. A brilliant science student, he received
a PhD from the University of Göttingen in 1852, a year before he earned
a bachelor's degree from Trinity College, Dublin.
Dr. Mallet taught at Amherst College and the University
of Alabama, and also worked for the Geological Survey of Alabama. In
1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army and served as superintendent
of the Confederate States' Ordnance Laboratories. Following the Civil
War, he taught at the University of Louisiana and the University of
Virginia.
Professor Mallet joined the faculty of the University
in 1883 and served as its chairman during the institution's first session.
In 1884 he left UT Austin for family reasons. He taught at Jefferson
Medical College for a brief period, subsequently returning to the University
of Virginia.
Professor Mallet was renowned as one of the most "outstanding
exponents of chemical research in America." His expertise ranged from
analytical to general to mineral chemistry. He authored more than 100
publications on a wide array of subjects, including analysis of different
ores, diabetes mellitus, and culture of cotton.
Professor Mallet was a founder of the
American Chemical Society and served as its president. The chemistry
library at the University was named after him in 1931.
<signed>
John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty
Biographical sketch prepared by Teresa Palomo Acosta
and posted on the Faculty Council web site on January 5, 2001.
Additional biographical sources can be found in the Barker Texas
History Center, the Mallet
Chemistry Library web site, and the New
Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association,
1996.
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