Overberger, Charles G., 1920-1987

Dr. Charles Gilbert Overberger, an educator and leader in the field of organic polymer chemistry, was born in the small town of Barnesboro, Pennsylvania, in 1920. In 1941, he graduated with a B.S. degree from Pennsylvania State University and then continued on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1944, studying under the direction of Dr. Carl "Speed" Marvel.

After his formal academic training, Overberger held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1946 before obtaining the position of assistant professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1947. He quickly assumed roles of greater leadership by earning promotions to professor of Chemistry and associate director in 1951, chairman of the Department of Chemistry from 1955 to 1963, and then finally dean of Science and director of the Polymer Research Institute in 1964. He held this post at the Polytechnic Institute until coming to the University of Michigan as professor and chairman of the Department of Chemistry in 1967. At U of M Overberger was also charged with the responsibility of setting up the new Macromolecular Research Center. He accomplished this task with success and was rewarded for his efforts by being appointed vice-president of Research in 1972. In 1983, Dr. Overberger returned to the Department of Chemistry as a member of the faculty until his retirement in 1989.

...