Claude Hudson

Claude Silbert Hudson (January 26, 1881 – December 27, 1952) was an American chemist who is best known for his work in the area of carbohydrate chemistry. He is also the namesake of the Claude S. Hudson Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry given by the American Chemical Society.

Life and work

Hudson was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1881. Originally planning to become a minister, he enrolled in Princeton University, but soon his interests changed to science. He graduated from Princeton in 1901 with a bachelor's degree, and earned a Master of Science degree in 1902. He then went to Europe to study under Walther Nernst and Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff. On returning to the United States, Hudson worked as a physics instructor for a year at Princeton University and later at the University of Illinois, earning a Ph.D. in 1907. He later held positions at the National Bureau of Standards and the NIH (1928 – 1951), both in Washington, DC.

In 1904 he observed that the phase diagram of nicotine-water solution has a closed curve. This is the first closed-loop coexistence curve, and a common example of reentrant phase.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1927.

Hudson is also remembered for the so-called Hudson's rules, concerning the optical rotation of sugars.

He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1942 and the Willard Gibbs Award in 1929.

Selected early writings

Claude S. Hudson Award

The Claude S. Hudson Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry has been given since 1946 by the American Chemical Society. Awardees are listed below.

2009 Peter H. Seeberger 2007 Pierre Sinaÿ 2005 David R. Bundle 2003 Robert J. Linhardt 2001 Yuan-Chuan Lee 1999 Chi-Huey Wong 1997 Samuel J. Danishefsky 1995 Tomoya Ogawa 1994 Hans Vliegenthart 1993 Irwin J. Goldstein 1992 Akira Kobata 1991 Per J. Garegg 1990 Bertram O. Fraser-Reid 1989 Walter A. Szarek 1988 Leslie Hough 1987 Stephen J. Angyal 1986 Gerald O. Aspinall 1985 Hans Paulsen 1984 Laurens Anderson 1983 Bengt Lindberg 1982 Stephen Hanessian 1981 Clinton E. Ballou 1980 George A. Jeffrey 1979 Arthur S. Perlin 1978 Michael Heidelberger 1977 Jack J. Fox 1976 Sidney M. Cantor 1975 Hans H. Baer 1974 Wendell W. Binkley 1973 Roger W. Jeanloz 1972 Derek Horton 1971 Robert S. Tipson 1970 Norman F. Kennedy 1969 John K. Netherton Jones 1968 Hewitt G. Fletcher Jr. 1967 W. Z. Hassid 1966 Raymond U. Lemieux 1965 C. G. Caldwell 1964 Dexter French 1963 Nelson K. Richtmyer 1962 Fred Smith 1961 John C. Sowden 1960 Roy L. Whistler 1959 W. Ward Pigman 1958 Hermann O. L. Fischer 1957 Julian K. Dale 1956 James M. D. Brown 1955 Kenneth R. Brown 1954 Horace S. Isbell 1953 George P. Meade 1952 Melville L. Wolfrom 1951 William D. Horne 1950 William B. Newkirk 1949 Frederick W. Zerban 1947 Frederick J. Bates 1946 Claude S. Hudson