Djerassi, Carl

Djerassi, Carl (jərăs`ē), 1929–, American organic chemist and educator, b. Vienna, Austria. He received his Ph.D. from the Univ. of Wisconsin (1945) and, since 1959, has taught at Stanford Univ. He was also president of the Syntex Research Division (1968–72) as well as president (1968–83) and then chairman of the board (1983–88) of the Zoecon Corporation. His synthetic work focused on steroids, antihistamines, and inflammatories and his theoretical work on optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism. He produced the first commercial oral contraceptive. His books include The Politics of Contraception: Birth Control in the Year 2001 (1980) and Cantor's Dilemma (1989).

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Djerassi, Carl (1923–  ) chemist, inventor; born in Vienna, Austria. A refugee immigrant to the United States in 1939, he became a research chemist, and eventually, professor of chemistry at Stanford. While working for a little-known firm in Mexico City in 1951, he was involved in the testing of the oral contraceptive—"the pill"—that for the first time made birth control a simple matter for millions of women. Although he made claims to being the prime developer of the birth control pill, these claims have been disputed by the scientific community. He did make important contributions to other areas of steroid research, and he was noted for his efforts at promoting international cooperation.