Werner H. Bromund Papers

Werner Hermann Bromund was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on May 8, 1909, the son of Hermann Emil Gustav (M.D.)(1866-1956) and Minnie Matthews (1880-1930). He had two brothers: Waldo Emil "Wally" (1909-1938) and Emil Fred "Fritz" (1913-1944). As a youth, German was spoken by the family at home. He taught in the Chemistry Department at Oberlin College for thirty-eight years.  Bromund studied at the University of Chicago (S.B. ‘32), Oberlin College (A.M. ‘35), and at New York University (Ph.D. ‘42). He was appointed an Instructor in Chemistry in 1937 at Oberlin College, and although he was trained as an organic chemist in both graduate programs, he taught analytical chemistry and microchemistry at Oberlin. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1943, to Associate Professor in 1949, and to Professor in 1955.  He retired in 1975.

During his long career in a distinguished academic department, Werner H. Bromund contributed principally to teaching and service. He co-authored an article with Robert Herbert titled “The Synthesis of Oxazoline Derivatives of Monosac-Charides and Their Relationship to the Amino Acids” (1945) and one with Anton Alexander Benedetti-Pichler (1894-1964) titled “Use of the Assay Balance in Microchemical Analysis” (1951). He was a member of honorary and professional organizations, such as Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, A.A.U.P., and the American Chemical Society.  He served on the Oberlin Public Utilities Commission (1965-67, and ?-1973). In 1958 he studied micro-chemistry with the renowned Koflers at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. A meticulous worker, Werner Bromund had a natural liking for microchemistry and classical analytical chemistry. He knew all the tricks. He was the recipient of the first Oberlin Shansi Association Memorial Association grant to teach in Asia in 1964. He taught for one term at American College in Madurai, India and for one term at Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan. His 1971-72 sabbatical year of study at the University of Massachusetts and the Intermuseum Laboratory in Oberlin focused on the micro-chemistry and analytical problems in art conservation. He formed a close working relationship with Richard D. "Dick" Buck, the first director of the Intermuseum Conservation Laboratory at Oberlin. For a few summers in the 1960s he directed student research in the Chemistry Department, under the auspices of the National Science Foundation.

His interest in the history of Oberlin’s Chemistry department led him to become a collector of publications and other memorabilia from several of his predecessors in the department, especially Francis "Frank" Fanning Jewett (1844-1926) and William Harvey Chapin (1862-1949). This work is reflected in this collection that he accumulated over the years, especially at the time the Chemistry Department moved from Severance Lab to the new Kettering Science Building in 1961.

A likable, gentle man, he had many interests, including photography and glass blowing. His favorite Winter Term projects involved teaching both subjects to students.  His reputation as a saver both at home and at work was well known; he could be depended upon to have that hard-to-find part necessary to mend a broken item. Church life was important to him and his wife, Elizabeth Hayden Bacon (1906-1996, A.B. 1927) whom he married on June 29, 1935. They had two children, Mary Elizabeth (aka. Marylee) Burke (1944-), and Richard "Dick" Hayden (1940-2024), a member of the Chemistry Department at The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio.

Werner Bromund died on 14 July 2000 at the Renaissance Retirement Center in Olmsted Township, Ohio. Bromund and his wife Elizabeth moved to Olmsted Township in 1989.  Elizabeth Bromund died in 1996.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Werner H. Bromund faculty file (RG 28); Biographical file, Papers of Werner Bromund, Series 1.