66 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS In appreciation for the excellent training you have given young scientists who have been associated with you--past and present-- during your years as Professor of Chemistry in academic life and as Research Director in Industry In gratitude for your past twenty-three years of service and devo- tion toward raising the professional stature of the cosmetic chemist I present to you this Medal, our highest award. {.: . •: •.•' :'.:,:• . i.•"' ':' .•:. :2. % ..... Dr. Sol D. Gershon (1.) accepting the Society's Medal from Mr. William Mueller (r.), President of the Society, during the 1966 Medal Award Dinner

EIGHTEENTH MEDAL AWARD Sol Gershon The Man BY GEoRc, E L. WEBSTY. R, Ph.D.* Up to this moment, this has been a most pleasant occasion for all of us. For the next few minutes, I know my pleasure will continue, and I hope you will bear with me while I enjoy myself. Four of us on this dais are alumni of the University of Illinois. That makes us members in spirit of that band of American Indians who used to follow the buffalo over the prairies of Illinois. Perhaps that accounts for the friendly treatment I have received today in New York. We were cautioned on a radio program last week to avoid all bars and cocktail lounges in New York City, particularly those manned by American Indian bartenders. We were told that these people were taking revenge on all other Americans by selling them manhattans for twenty-four dollars. Your hospitality has taken care of us very well. Seriously, this is a gala occasion not only for our Medalist but also in an important sense for all of us who have been privileged to share in the life and career of Sol D. Getshon. During the years when I have been engaged in professional education, it has been brought home to me that among the great rewards of that occupation is to observe the careers of my former students and note particularly that the best ones frequently achieve more than their teacher. It is especially rewarding when one can say that he identified this quality of excellence at an early point in the student's career. I should like to picture for you some of the background from which our Medalist emerged. Chicago's West Side neighborhood is a crowded, changing neighbor- hood. At the time when Sol was a boy, many of the apartments or flats were inhabited by families recently arrived in Chicago, with limited resources but motivated by a determination to improve their situations and, perhaps most importantly, by a respect and a craving for education. In this they saw their greatest hope. In this they differed from some of our present generations of disadvantaged persons. In the 1920's the residents were predominantly of another national origin than that of the second decade. The families of Sol's youth were * Dean, University of Illinois College of Pharmacy, Chicago, Ill.