Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 26, 2013

James Bryant Conant (1893–1978) was a chemist, President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. As a Harvard professor, he was one of the first to explore the relationship between chemical equilibrium and the reaction rate of chemical processes. He studied the biochemistry of oxyhemoglobin, helped to elucidate the structure of chlorophyll, and contributed insights that underlie modern theories of acid–base chemistry. It was during his presidency of Harvard (1933–53) that women were first admitted to Harvard Medical School and Harvard Law School. As chairman of the National Defense Research Committee during World War II, he oversaw the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bombs. After the war, he served on the Joint Research and Development Board that coordinated defense research, and on the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission. In his later years at Harvard, he taught the history and philosophy of science, and wrote about the scientific method. In 1953 he became the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, overseeing the restoration of German sovereignty, and then was U.S. Ambassador to West Germany until 1957.

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