E. Emerson Morse ’36

Dr. E. Emerson Morse ’36 died on September 30, 2014, in Berlin, New Hampshire.

He was born on October 6, 1915, in Willimantic, Conn., and prepared for college at Windham (Conn.) High School, Framingham (Mass.) High School, Brookline (Mass.) High School and Newton (Mass.) High School. He graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College and earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1940 at the University of California, Berkeley. He was elected to the honorary societies Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. He started his career at Spreckels Sugar Company as a research scientist from 1940 to 1948, then moved to Gorham as a research chemist at Brown Company, advancing to research director of the Berlin labs, and retiring in 1984. He received U.S. patents in the areas of sugar technology, wet strength resins for paper towels, and cellulose derivatives, including the first crystallized cellulose, sold as “Solka Floc.” He published papers in a number of international scientific journals and contributed to several technical books. He served for 10 years as a member of the New Hampshire State Advisory Council on Engineering & Specialized Personnel, and was recognized by President Johnson with a personnel award. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Vivian Webb Morse; sons David Lathrop Morse ’73 and James Emerson Morse; and six grandchildren. He was predeceased by brother Roland Morse in 1969 and sister Myrtle Barden in 2011.

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