The Reynold C. Fuson Memorial Award in Chemistry Fund provides unrestricted funds for use on immediate or vital Department of Chemistry needs. Since its inception, this fund has been used to support awards, scholarships, new academic and research programs, and student loans, among other equally vital uses.
Reynold Clayton Fuson, known to his friends and colleagues as "R.C.," was a distinguished member of the University of Illinois faculty in Chemistry for 35 years. A devoted educator, he supervised 76 undergraduate researchers, 154 doctoral candidates and 15 postdoctoral fellows during his tenure at Illinois. His accolades are many and include authorship or co-authorship of five textbooks - including the well-known "Systematic Identification of Organic Compounds," which remains a classic to this day. Among his many scientific contributions was the origination of the principle of vinylogy. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, he also was hailed as a charter member of the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois and received honorary degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota. Though held in high esteem throughout the chemical field, Fuson's deepest interest always remained with the welfare and education of his students.