26 Facts About Alfred Bader

Alfred Robert Bader was a Canadian chemist, businessman, philanthropist, and collector of fine art.

Alfred Bader was born on April 28,1924, in Vienna, Austria.

Alfred Bader was adopted by his father's sister, Gisela Reich, and raised as a Jew.

In June 1938, Alfred Bader was forced out of school because Jews were forbidden to attend beyond the age 14.

Alfred Bader went on to study at Harvard University, with the support of the Abbott fellowship.

In January 1950, Alfred Bader began work as a research chemist at Pittsburgh Plate Glass.

Alfred Bader remained with PPG until 1954, when the company planned a move to Pittsburgh.

Alfred Bader himself had experienced this as a graduate student, when he ordered one of the compounds he needed from the Kodak catalog.

Alfred Bader eventually had to make it himself due to its infrequent availability.

In 1951, while still working at PPG, Alfred Bader co-founded the Aldrich Chemical Company with Jack Eisendrath, a lawyer.

Alfred Bader bought interesting compounds from a variety of sources in the United States and Europe and listed them in his catalog.

Alfred Bader initially operated out of a garage where the chemicals were stored and packaged for mailing.

The first product sent out by Aldrich was Methylnitronitrosoguanidine, which Alfred Bader had learned to produce at Queen's.

Alfred Bader served as president of the combined company from 1975 to 1980 and from 1980 to 1991 as chairman.

Alfred Bader later stated that while it was a staggering blow at the time, the change gave him more time to deal in art works and continue his philanthropy, making him happier.

Alfred Bader later reinstated Bader in the role of "chemist collector," in which he provided the company journal, Aldrichimica Acta, with paintings for its covers.

Alfred Bader purchased his first oil painting in the Canadian internment camp: his portrait, painted by a fellow inmate, for a fee of one Canadian dollar.

In 1995 Alfred Bader published his autobiography, Adventures of a Chemist Collector, which details his experiences from Nazi-era refugee, to chemist magnate, to fine arts connoisseur.

Alfred Bader died at home in Milwaukee on December 23,2018.

Alfred Bader has given various charitable donations to Queen's University, Canada, both financial and in-kind.

Alfred Bader purchased the 15th century Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England, and donated it to Queen's University, which opened Bader College there in 1994.

Since 2013, the Alfred Bader Award has been given by the Canadian Society for Chemistry to a scientist working in Canada for "excellence in research in organic chemistry".

Awards and honours received by Alfred Bader include but are not limited to the following:.

Alfred Bader went on to meet and marry his first wife Helen Ann "Danny" Daniels, in the United States.

Similar in many ways to Isabel, including a Protestant religious upbringing, Danny converted to Judaism before Alfred Bader proposed to her.

Alfred Bader subsequently married Isabel and the two remained happily married until his death.