BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 



A candidate for the Chem. E. degree was required to submit a de- 

 tailed report of the research he had conducted during his final year, 

 and this report had to be approved by the major professor. Kluyver 

 discussed these reports with his own students punctiliously, from be- 

 ginning to end, sometimes spending more than a full day on a single 

 one. A few days later, professor and candidate met again for the offi- 

 cial examination ceremony where, in the presence of the entire faculty 

 of the chemical technology department, the candidate was subjected 

 to an interrogation of some ten minutes' duration by his major pro- 

 fessor. On the whole, this examination was a mere formality; but it 

 was characteristic of Kluyver that he always succeeded in making a 

 sporting event of it by subtly creating the impression that the candi- 

 date had to fight for a passing grade. The result was invariably grat- 

 ifying; the ceremony gained in gravity, and afterwards the student 

 could look back upon the performance with far more satisfaction 

 than if he had been convinced that it was something of a farce. 



The degree earned, the new Chem. E. had to look for a job. Kluy- 

 ver realized that a microbiological education limited to a single year 

 did not suffice to make anyone a full-fledged microbiologist, and he 

 did his utmost to help those who wanted to extend their training and 

 experience by continuing to work in his laboratory. On the other 

 hand, since Kluyver was regularly consulted by various industries, he 

 often acted as an intermediary when job opportunities presented 

 themselves. For the students it was but natural to seek the advice of 

 the master when confronted with such problems; but they never ob- 

 tained a direct answer. Kluyver would survey the available positions 

 and possible careers, interspersed with questions about the inclinations 

 of the person in question. The latter would afterwards go home with 

 his ideas sorted out and his mind already half-way made up. Kluyver 

 seldom went so far as to invite a promising student to stay on as an 

 assistant ; he clearly separated the interests of his students from those 

 of the institute ; and, even if they declared their preference for contin- 

 uing to do academic work, he first called attention to various possibil- 

 ities here and abroad, only at the end mentioning that a position 

 might perhaps be found in his own laboratory. Then he would dwell 

 in detail on the drawbacks of such a solution, and only hint at the 

 positive aspects. But if the young graduate, after such 'fair warning', 

 still insisted on his preference for an assistantship in the Delft institute, 



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