William Francis Hillebrand

William Francis Hillebrand (December 12, 1853 – February 7, 1925) was an American chemist.

Biography He was the son of the renowned botanist William Hillebrand. He studied at Cornell University and then in Germany at the University of Heidelberg where he received his Ph.D. in 1875. He then worked with Robert Bunsen for two semesters. His research on metallic cerium, which he together with Thomas Norton obtained first in 1872, started his academic career.

He studied organic chemistry for three semesters with Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig at the University of Strasbourg, but changed to geochemistry and metallurgy by studying at the Freiberg Mining Academy. After returning home to the United States in 1878, he opened an assay office in Leadville, Colorado, in 1879, and then started working as a chemist at the United States Geological Survey in 1880. That year he was sent to Denver to establish a chemical laboratory for the Rocky Mountain Division of the Survey. For five years he remained in charge of this laboratory, and then was transferred to the chief laboratory in Washington. He changed to the National Bureau of Standards in 1909 where he was chief chemist. The Chemical Society of Washington, a division of the American Chemical Society, awards the Hillebrand Prize Award each year for "original contributions to the science of chemistry". The award was first given in 1925.