Papers of Teddy G. Traylor, organic chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego.
Teddy G. Traylor Papers, 1955-1995 (MSS 183)
Extent: 6.4 Linear feet (16 archives boxes)
Teddy G. Traylor was born in Sulphur, Oklahoma, on May 21, 1925. He did his undergraduate and graduate work in chemistry at UCLA and received a B.A. in 1949 and Ph.D. in 1952, under the direction of Saul Winstein. Traylor worked at Dow Chemical Company for six years, then as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University for two years under Paul D. Bartlett. In 1961, Traylor joined the Chemistry Department at UCSD as an assistant professor and was promoted to the rank of professor in 1968. He served as department chairman (1973-1976) and actively participated in the long-range planning for and expansion of the department.
Traylor conducted research in the fields of bioinorganic, organometallic and physical organic chemistry. His areas of study included oxymercuration of olefins, electrophilic substitution at saturated carbon, autoxidation of hydrocarbons, radical carbonium ions (and metallocene chemistry), carbon-carbon bond lengths, and biological oxygen transport and activation.
His pioneering research in the field of biomimetic chemistry developed new models for understanding biochemical reactions. He made significant contributions in understanding the mechanism of oxygen and carbon monoxide binding by heme proteins. In 1973, Traylor's group synthesized the active site of myoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of muscle.
In 1973, Traylor combined instruction in organic and inorganic chemistry in a graduate class entitled "Chemistry 141 A-B-C: Organic Chemistry." In collaboration with Patricia Traylor, his wife and also a chemistry professor, Traylor wrote a textbook for this class entitled "Organic-Inorganic Chemistry: A Course in Chemical Principles and Reactions of the Light Elements." In addition, he devised a new symbology for molecular orbitals and integrated computer methods for making spectroscopic drawings.
Traylor received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the John E. Fogarty International Center twice during his career.
He retired from the UCSD Chemistry Department in July 1991 and remained active professionally until his death on June 14, 1993.
Papers of Teddy G. Traylor, organic chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego. Traylor's research interests included organometallic chemistry, autooxidation, oxygen transport, and bioorganic chemistry. He made significant contributions to biomimetic chemistry through studies of the mechanisms of oxygen transport and activation in biological systems, especially those involving heme proteins. The papers contain biographical materials, correspondence, published and unpublished writings, professional meeting materials, grants, patents, teaching materials, and UC San Diego materials.
Arranged in six series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS, 4) MEETINGS AND LECTURES, 5) GRANTS AND PATENTS, and 6) UCSD MATERIALS.