Herbert H. Uhlig papers

Herbert H. Uhlig, 1907-1993, was a professor emeritus of metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received a BS in chemistry from Brown University in 1929, and in 1932, a PhD from MIT in physical chemistry. He began working at MIT in 1936 as a research associate in the Corrosion Laboratory. He left MIT during World War II and worked at the Research Laboratory of the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. He returned to MIT in 1946 as professor of metallurgy and director of the Corrosion Laboratory, a position he stayed in for 29 years. He retired in 1972. The laboratory was renamed the H. H. Uhlig Corrosion Laboratory in 1982. (1)

Other accomplishments include: -helping to establish the Corrosion Division of the Electrochemical Society (ECS) in 1942 -serving as vice president of ECS in 1952 and president in 1955 to 1956 -publishing the Corrosion Handbook in 1948 (2) -serving as president of the international Thoreau Society and of the Rumford Historical Society in Woburn, Massachusetts. (3)

Uhlig’s research focused on “corrosion and electrochemistry with particular emphasis on fundamental studies of passivity, metal surface properties, and the chemical and metallurgical behavior of corrosion resistant alloys.” (4)

1. The Electrochemical Society (ECS). “Herbert H. Uhlig.” Accessed June 29, 2020. https://www.electrochem.org/uhlig/.

2. MIT, H. H. Uhlig Corrosion Laboratory. “Herbert H. Uhlig.” Accessed June 29, 2020. http://web.mit.edu/uhliglab/uhlig.shtml.

3. Lambert, Bruce. “Herbert Uhlig, 86, Teacher and Expert On Metal Corrosion,” The New York Times, July 24, 1993. Accessed June 29, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/24/obituaries/herbert-uhlig-86-teacher-and-expert-on-metal-corrosion.html.

4. ECS. “Herbert H. Uhlig.” Accessed June 29, 2020. https://www.electrochem.org/uhlig/.