Crafts, James Mason

Person summary

Name: Crafts, James Mason
Date of birth: 1839/03/08
Date of death: 1917/06/20
Place of birth: United States, Massachusetts, Boston
Place of death: United States, Connecticut, Ridgefield
Website: https://archivesspace-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/agents/people/583

Description

James Mason Crafts was an American chemist best known for developing (with Charles Friedel) the Friedel–Crafts alkylation and acylation reactions. He was on the faculty of the MIT Chemistry department from 1870 to 1897, and was appointed as a professor of organic chemistry in 1892. He served as the head of the Chemistry department from 1896 to 1901, served as the fourth President of MIT (1897-1900), and was a MIT Corporation Member from 1891 to 1900.