Calvin Adam Buehler

Calvin A. Buehler was head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, 1940-62. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1918, his master’s in 1920, and his Ph.D. in 1922 from Ohio State University. He accepted a position at the University of Tennessee in 1922. Buehler was named head of the chemistry department in 1940, and it was during his term that the university initiated its first doctoral program.

The author of one book, Survey of Organic Synthesis (1971), and more than forty-two scholarly articles, Buehler was acclaimed for his research as well as his teaching. In 1950 the Southern Chemist, a monthly publication of the southern section of the American Chemical Society, named him the South’s outstanding chemist for his contributions to research and the development of chemical education in the region. In 1963 Buehler was selected as one of the first five University of Tennessee professors honored as Distinguished Service Professors. Buehler retired in 1965, and five years later, the university named its newly constructed chemistry building, Buehler Hall, in his honor.

Buehler married Grace Stone Buehler in 1937. After her death, he married Katherine Doies McCallen. He died in Knoxville in 1988 and was buried at Highland Memorial Cemetery.