(Contributed by Dr. William Jensen, Curator of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry)
As the global reputation of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry continues to grow, these special collections are attracting the attention of more and more international scholars.
Starting in January 2013, Professor José Chamizo of the University of Mexico spent three months of his sabbatical working in the collections and returned once more in June for another two weeks. While at Cincinnati his research focused on the role of instrumentation in initiating chemical revolutions and on the life and work of the 19th-century Mexican chemist, José Ortigiosa.
Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript
Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript
In late June, the Oesper collections were also visited by Dr. Eberhard Slenczka, former Director of Libraries for the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremburg, who came to examine our facsimile of the 16th century alchemical manuscript known as the Splendor Solis in order to make comparisons with the copies found in Nuremburg, Paris, London and Spain.
Please direct questions regarding access and use of the Oesper collections to Professor William B. Jensen or Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries.
This summer, Langsam Library was a busy place as over 4,000 incoming students participating in UC New Student Orientation visited and learned about all that UC Libraries has to offer. While here, they engaged in activities designed to be entertaining while at the same time informative about the various research resources, assistance, and library services they can take advantage of when they return in the fall.
Gregory H. Williams became the University of Cincinnati’s 27th president when he took office in September 2009. Among more than 100 applicants for the position, he was selected in part because of his outstanding work in transforming the City College of New York, where he served as president before joining the UC. Williams received national acclaim for his book, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black (New York, NY: Dutton, 1995). Over a decade later, he still received feedback from his readers while serving as the president here at UC. The memoir was his way of telling the world about struggling with poverty and acceptance during his youth and dealing with his biracial identity in Muncie, Indiana at a time when segregation was still highly overt in the United States. The book also brought to life other family issues such as alcoholism and abandonment. Throughout his account, he told the story of a normal childhood that spiraled into one of torment, welfare, and segregation, and then how he made the best of it. Williams became the star quarterback of his high school’s football team, excelled in college to earn four degrees, and worked his way up in higher education system until he became president of College City of New York from 2001-2009 and then president of the University of Cincinnati from 2009 to 2012. 
