Gustave Kohn

Gustave (Bob) Kohn February 12, 1910-August 20, 2006 Gustave (Bob) Kohn had been a research chemist for Chevron's Ortho Division in Richmond since 1946 where he rose to the level of senior scientist. He served with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in India after his retirement in 1965. There he helped India increase its rice production to the point where it was self-sufficient. Upon his return, he and his wife moved from Berkeley to Palo Alto where he was in charge of research at Dr. Carl Djerassi's company, Zoecon. Mr. Kohn was drafted into the army before the outbreak of WWII. He was shipped to an atoll in the Phoenix Islands, Canton Island, in January of 1942 where he assisted in the building of an airstrip so planes could refuel after flying west from the Hawaiian Islands on their way to Guadalcanal. He was sent from the Pacific to Iceland to await the invasion of Europe. After the invasion he supervised the medical laboratory in the American Hospital in Paris. Mr. Kohn belonged to the AAAS and was very active in the American Chemical Society where he chaired the Committee on Patents for many years. In 1983 he was named "Inventor of the Year" by the Patent Law Association of San Francisco in honor of his having made 150 new agricultural chemicals which earned patent. Mr. Kohn died of Alzheimer's Disease at 96 years of age. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Mildred; daughter, Ann Kohn and her son Gabriel Rivera; son Joshua, his wife Heather and their daughters Cora and Ruby.