Donald Hornig

Since 2013, Hornig has been listed on the Advisory Council of the National Center for Science Education.

Hornig died from Alzheimer's disease in Providence, Rhode Island on January 21, 2013.

In 1970 he became president of Brown University, and he remained in office until he resigned in 1976. The end of his term was noted for financial cutbacks at the university, which was met by student protests. Thereafter he became Professor of Chemistry in Public Health at Harvard University. From 1987 to 1990 he served the Harvard University School of Public Health as chairman of the Department of Environmental Health. He retired in 1990.

Shortly before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, he announced Hornig as the presidential science advisor. Hornig assumed office on January 24, 1964, but did not enjoy good relations with the new president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who enjoyed a poor relationship with many scientists. He left office at the end of the president's term in 1969, and accepted an executive position with Eastman Kodak Company.

In 1946 he joined the staff of Brown University as an assistant professor, and became a full professor in 1951. From 1951 to 1952 he was Associate Dean of the Graduate School, then acting dean the following year. In 1957 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the same year he moved to Princeton University in 1957. Later became chairman of the Princeton chemistry department.

Hornig was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Chester Arthur Hornig and Emma Knuth. He attended Milwaukee Country Day School, then earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Harvard University. He was awarded his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1943, at the age of 23, with a dissertation on An Investigation of the Shock Wave Produced by an Explosion in Air. On July 17, 1943 he was married to scientist Lilli Hornig. The couple had four children together: three girls, Joanna, Ellen, and Leslie, and one boy, Christopher.

Donald Frederick Hornig (March 17, 1920 – January 21, 2013) was an American chemist, explosives expert, teacher and presidential science advisor. He served as president of Brown University from 1970 to 1976.