JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS his unselfishness in the interest of his staff. Mr. deNavarre then delivered his address, "Dan Dahle, the Scientist, the Regulatory Official and the Man." DAN DAHLE, THE SCIENTIST, THE REGULATORY OFFICIAL AND THE MAN By MAISON G. DENAvARRE WI4E• TI4E Society of Cos- metic Chemists was formed in May, 1945, it resolved to have two kinds of membership, active and honorary. Within a year after adoption of'its constitution, the Society unani- mously chose one individual on whom it wanted to confer its first honor. One man stood out as most deserving. That man was Dr. Dan Dahle, then Chief of the Food and Drug Administration, Cosmetic Division. It is significant that a regulatory official was chosen to receive the honor because of the natural apathy everyone has for regulators of any kind. Even so, everyone knew that the man with the twinkling eyes, and the brush-like haircut, whose English had an occasional Swedish accent, had discharged his job with fidelity--an ungrateful job at best, for few people like a policeman--and Dan Dahle was a policeman. The kind of policeman who knows that there is a spirit as well as a letter to the law. The kind of policeman who says to you-- "Think, deep .in your heart--you know you can't do that!" If that didn't hold you, he would shrug his shoulders and say, "In the opin- ion of the F.D.A .... " It is difficult and probably im- possible to distinguish between Dan Dahle, the scientist, regulatory offi- cial, and the man. The same quali- ties of imagination, enthusiasm, justice, thoroughness, and friendli- ness which contributed to his suc- cess as scientist and regulatory offi- cer likewise characterized him as a man. It was my privilege to know him in all three capacities. Dan Dahle was born in Sweden part of his education was received at Gothenburg, and his postgraduate work at the American University in Washington, D.C. He joined the Food and Drug Administration in 1928 and was stationed at Savannah. It was shortly before that, while he was assistant state chemist of Florida, that he me• a young lady who becaffte Mrs. Dahle. Then the Food and Drug Act of 1938 was passed and Walter Campbell, in looking around for a man to head the newly created cosmetic division, chose Dan Dahle to be the Acting Chief. He was Acting Chill from 1939 to 1943, after which he became Chief of the Cosmetic Division..At

FIRST HONORARY MEMBERSHIP PRESENTATION 63 first there were only three men in the division eventually it grew to about a dozen. When Dan Dahle settled down to work as Acting Chief, he had to start from the beginning. He and his division had to devise regulations interpreting the cosmetic sections of the F. ood, Drug and Cosmetic Act he had to establish tolerances for dangerous substances used in cos- metics as well as directions for their use. Methods of identifying and quantitatively determining the countless ingredients in scores of cosmetic products had to be de- veloped. Most of us, in a much smaller way, have experienced ex- actly the same frustrations, so we know the magnitude of his labors. Yet another superhuman task awaited Dan Dahle. The certifica- tion of colors (to be used in foods, drugs, and cosmetics) was assigned to his Division. That started a series of hearings between cosmetic and color manufacturers and deal- ers with the Cosmetic Division. Standards of purity were tediously devised, to the satisfaction of all. Today, the whole civilized world respects these standards. No one within the jurisdiction of the United States would think of using a non- certified color. Woe unto him who does. Dan Dahle's success in complet- ing the work on certification of colors would have been delayed much if he didn't have the full co- operation of manufacturers and dealers. And he is quite aware of it too. One need only to mention colors to hear a flow of glowing praises for the color men like Bain- bridge, Thomasette, Vesce, Nantz, and others. In spite of its overburdened pro- gram, the Cosmetic Division found time to publish technical papers on subjects ranging from methods of identifying antiperspirants to the composition of waving prepara- tions. These technical articles rarely carried Dan Dahle:s name. In fact, he insisted that his labora- tory assistants do original work, and also that they had to publish it under their names only. Often he had to act as English and composi- tion master to make inarticulate Dr. Dan Dahle delivering his acceptance of honorary membership chemists write what they meant. In fact, he was so concerned about his assistants' articulation that he wrote a thesis on grammar and clarity of expression in his series