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Marvin Charton

by Susan J. Ainsworth
December 16, 2013 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 91, Issue 50

Marvin Charton, 80, a professor of chemistry at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, died on April 12, 2012.

Born in Brooklyn, Charton earned a B.S. at City College of New York in 1953, an M.A. at Brooklyn College in 1956, and a Ph.D. at Stevens Institute of Technology in 1962.

Charton joined Pratt Institute in 1956 as an instructor. He and his wife, Barbara, whom he married in 1955, served together as faculty members.

He rose through the ranks to become a professor in 1967 and chair of the chemistry department at Pratt from 1969 until 1971.

Beginning in 1986, Charton was also a visiting professor at the Polymer Institute at Brooklyn’s Polytechnic University (now Polytechnic Institute of New York University).

Charton focused his research on quantitative structure-activity relationships. His work involved modeling biomolecule activities, enhancing the strength of quantitative predictions, and reducing dependence on live animal studies. He was an early proponent of Corwin Hansch’s work on the correlation of biological activity with chemical structure. Chartonauthored more than 200 refereed papers and book chapters.

He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the New York Academy of Sciences, and ACS, which he joined in 1953.

Charton is remembered for his insight, gentle nature, informality and friendliness, and his addiction to puns. He amassed a collection of rare antiquarian chemistry books, which he donated to the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

He is survived by his wife; son, Michael; daughters, Sarah and Deborah; and four grandchildren.

Obituary notices of no more than 300 words may be sent to Susan J. Ainsworth at ­s_ainsworth@acs.org and should include an educational and professional history.

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