reaction. He was Iowa State's second member of the National Academy of Sciences and the first director of the Ames Laboratory. Dr. Spedding won the Langmuir Award in 1933, Only Oscar K. Rice and Linus Pauling preceded him in this achievement. The award is now called the Award in Pure Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. He was the first Distinguished Professor of Sciences and Humanities at Iowa State (1957). Further awards included: William H. Nichols Award of the New York section of the American Chemical Society (1952); the James Douglas Gold Medal from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (1961) for achievements in nonferrous metallurgy; and the Francis J. Clamer Award from the Franklin Institute (1969) for achievements in metallurgy. Harley Wilhelm (Ph.D. 1931) (deceased 1995), developed the most efficient process to produce uranium metal for the Manhattan Project, the Ames Process, a process still in use. Velmer A. Fassel (Ph.D. 1947)(deceased 1998), developed the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analytical process, used for chemical analysis worldwide; former deputy director of the Ames Laboratory. Karl A. Gschneidner, Jr. (B.S. 1952, Ph.D 1957) (deceased) elected Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering in 2007, Gschneidner was a world authority in the physical metallurgy, and thermal and electrical behavior of rare-earth materials. Gschneidner was a Fellow of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society, Fellow of the American Society for Materials International, and Fellow of the American Physical Society. James Renier (Ph.D. 1955) (deceased 2019), chairman and chief executive officer of Honeywell Inc. (1988–93). Darleane C. Hoffman (Ph.D. 1951), a 1997 recipient of the National Medal of Science, helped confirm the existence of element 106, seaborgium. John Weaver (Ph.D. 1973), named Scientist of the Year for 1997 by R&D Magazine. Weaver heads the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. James Halligan (B.S. 1962, M.S. 1965, Ph.D. 1967), president of Oklahoma State University (1994–2002). Allan Mackintosh (deceased 1995), expert on rare-earth metals and President of the European Physical Society. James W. Mitchell (Ph.D. 1970), named Iowa State University's first George Washington Carver Professor in 1994. He won two R&D 100 Awards and the prestigious Percy L. Julian Research Award given by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers for innovative industrial research. Mitchell was vice president of the Materials Research Laboratory at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies.