EIGHTEENTH MEDAL AWARD 75 comed challenges, already holding the first patent for an antibiotic tooth- paste for which there did exist published information showing its effectiveness against dental caries. However, it was his considered opinion that further laboratory and in vivo research were needed to enucleate certain of the optimistic data coming from his own and other laboratories and that all of the parameters controlling dentifrice efficacy had not been explored. These reservations did much to bring order from the considerably disordered state which prevailed. It is fair to state that Dr. Gershon's personal integrity, aside from his scientific proficiency in research matters, contributed immensely to the improvement of industrial-professional relationships in dentistry. Further, by his own example, he changed the attitude of a number of people in the dental community who had previously held a rather skep- tical view reg:arding the motivation of industrial scientists and pro- fessional staffs. Therefore, it wa.s rot surprising that his contact work with the Amer- ican Dental Association led to the publication of standards and accepted criteria for the evaluation of therapeutic dentifrices. He served as the only industrial representative at the American Dental Association panel on clinical 'testing of dental caries preventatives. His chapter on denti- frices in Cosmetic Science and Technology, the first and only comprehen- sive treatise on dentifrices, remains a milestone and has been commended by the American Dental Association for its authenticity and excellence. When the American Council on Education and the American Dental Association were seeking outstanding individuals to represent various segments of society on the committee that was to guide the Survey of Dentistry in the United States, Dr. Gershon was selected as the repre- sentative of industry on the seven-man membership of the Committee on Research. That Survey was charged with the responsibility of deter- mining where the profession had been and where it was going and to sug- gest methods for implementing constructive recommendations. Serving also on this committee, I might say that his contributions were immense and decidedly definitive. As a measure of his own company's confidence in him, he represented Lever Brothers before the "House Select Committee" to investif'ate the use of chemicals in foods and cosmetics. Person. ally, his counsel on matters of mutual interest has always im- pressed upon me that he was first a scientist and secondly a devoted em- ployee of the firm with which he was affiliated. This comment, inci-

76 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS dentally, is paraphrased from a remark made by Dr. Edward Feldman, Director of the Revision of the National Formulary, who has also often sought his advice. Let me then capsulate a few o[ the credentials of Dr. Gershon which have prompted your response tonight. He was the first University of Illinois student to win the Fairchild Scholarship in competition over a field of the two outstanding pharmacy students from each college of pharmacy in the United States. As an undergraduate and as a graduate student, he was the recipient of honor awards in chemistry and materia medica. As a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois his activities included the Admission Committee to the College of Pharmacy and faculty advisor to the students. As professor of chemistry, includ- ing responsibility for eight different courses, he taught over 2000 stu- dents, many of whom are now active in pharmaceutical research today. As an employee of Lever Brothers, many of the outstanding leaders in the cosmetic industry received their training under his guidance and tute- lage. His prestige as a researcher is acknowledged by his selection as the only industrial representative on the Editorial Board of Oral Research Abstracts. He served for three terms as President of the Chicago Chapter of the American Pharmaceutical Association, was national President of your Society in 1952 and a United States delegate to the Congress in Paris in 1966. Last, but possibly most important, he personifies the professional man whose scientific vision has not obscured his responsibilities to the total community. A University must provide excellence to the college experience, yet the University graduate must assume his proper role in society with modesty and humility if he is to reach his potential. For as John Gardner has said, "An excellent plumber is infinitely more admira- ble than an incompetent philosopher. The society which scorns excel- lence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water." This is not the society that would be typified by your M:edalist of 1966. The human being is a wondrous thing, and when endowed with at- tributes such as those which have been eulogized tonight it can, by itself, shape the destiny of great numbers of peoples. Thus, your highest accolade goes to Dr. Sol Gershon--.scholar, edu- cator, researcher, administrator, and professional man.