{{Short description|Canadian scientist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Otto Maass | image = Otto Maass.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1890|07|08|df=y}} | birth_place = New York City, New York | death_date = {{Death date and age|1961|07|03|1890|07|08|df=y}} | death_place = Montreal, Quebec | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | residence = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = Chemistry | workplaces = McGill University | alma_mater =McGill University (B.A., M.Sc.)<br>Harvard University (Ph.D.) | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Henry Marshall Tory Medal {{small|(1945)}}<br>Fellow of the Royal Society<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Flood | first1 = E. A. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1963.0010 | title = Otto Maass 1890-1961 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 9 | pages = 183–204 | year = 1963 | doi-access = free }}</ref> | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | footnotes = | spouse = }} '''Otto Maass''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CBE|FRS|FRSC}} (8 July 1890 &ndash; 3 July 1961) was a Canadian academic and scientist.

==Education== Born in New York City, New York, Maass started teaching at McGill University in 1923 retiring in 1955. He was the Macdonald Professor of Chemistry and was chairman of the department of chemistry from 1937 to 1955.<ref name=CdnEncy>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/otto-maass|title=Otto Maass|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref>

==Career== His scientific research in physical chemistry included contributions in calorimetry, critical-state phenomena, preparation and properties of pure hydrogen peroxide, properties of cellulose, and the chemical pulping of wood.<ref name=CdnEncy/>

In 1940, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.<ref name="frs"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/fellowship/Fellows1660-2007.pdf|title=List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660 – 2007}}</ref> In 1946, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37633/supplements/3335|title= Supplement |work=London Gazette}}</ref> In 1947, he was named the director of the newly created DRB biological and chemical warfare research division.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Defence & Discovery: Canada's Military Space Program, 1945-74.|last=Godefroy|first=Andrew B.|publisher=UBC Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-7748-1959-6|location=Vancouver, B.C.|pages=18}}</ref> A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he was awarded the Society's Henry Marshall Tory Medal in 1945. McGill University's Otto Maass Chemistry Building, built between 1964 and 1966, is named in his honour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cac.mcgill.ca/campus/Buildings/Otto_Maass_Chemistry.html|title=Otto Maass Chemistry Building|work=McGill University}}</ref> To this day there remains a plaque on the building dedicating it to Maass's excellent contributions to "science in defense of his country", widely interpreted as a euphemistic nod to his work on Fuel Air Explosives.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Otto Maass |sopt=t}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maass, Otto}} Category:1890 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:Academic staff of McGill University Category:McGill University alumni Category:Harvard University alumni

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