Clarence William Balke

Abstract

CLARENCE WILLIAM BALKE, director of research of the Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., was born at Auburn, Geauga County, Ohio, March 29, 1880. He attended high school at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and was graduated (A.B.) from Oberlin College in 1902. While at Oberlin he heard much about the work done there by Charles M. Hall, leading to the commercial reduction of aluminum, once regarded as one of the rare elements. The interest in the rare elements thus aroused was further stimulated by contact with a graduate student from the University of Pennsylvania, who had worked with tungsten for his doctorate. He influenced Balke to go to Pennsylvania (1902-03), where he did research on aluminum and bismuth tungstates. During the academic year 1903-04 Balke taught physics and chemistry at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. Returning to the University of Pennsylvania on a fellowship in 1904, he became interested in tantalum. Van Bolton had produced small bits of the ...