Francis Patrick Garvan (June 13, 1875 – November 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, government official, and long-time president of the Chemical Foundation, Inc. The Chemical Foundation was established to administer in the public interest 4,500 German patents associated with production of synthetic organic chemicals and related pharmaceuticals seized by the Office of Alien Property Custodian during the World War I. Biography Garvan was born June 13, 1875 in East Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1897 (A.B.) and from New York Law School in 1899 (LL.B.). He had a career as a lawyer, and then served from 1900 to 1910 as an Assistant District Attorney in New York City. Later on, he was appointed Director of Bureau of Investigations in the Office of Alien Property Custodian in the Treasury Department; an office tasked with confiscation and management of enemy property in the United States during and after World War I including, notably, patents and other assets of the German dye and chemical industries. Garvan became the second Office's Custodian in 1919 after his boss A. Mitchell Palmer stepped down. From 1919 to 1923, Garvan also served as Dean of the Fordham University School of Law. He was a trustee of The Catholic University of America and was himself a Roman Catholic. Chemical Foundation In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Garvan as president of the Chemical Foundation of New York, a post he held until his death. The Chemical Foundation Inc., oversaw the distribution of German patents controlled by the Office of the Alien Property. At first, the patents were acquired by the Chemical Foundation from the Office of Alien Property for $250,000 and then leased on the royalty basis to American companies. The proceeds were spent on scientific and medical research, as well as scholarships. At the time, the Chemical Foundations income was US$8.6 million; however, no dividends were paid to any shareholder and the chief officers received no salaries for their work. The Chemical Foundation suffered from a number of lawsuits filed by German owners, however the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the process of acquisition and distribution of patents was legal. Under Garvan's leadership, the Chemical Foundation supported the first nine years of the Journal of Chemical Education, as well as the microbiology journal Stain Technology (which came about from an idea of Garvan's). In the early 1920s, the Chemical Foundation provided