Francis Preston Venable

Francis Preston Venable (November 17, 1856 – March 17, 1934) was a chemist, educator, and president of the University of North Carolina (UNC). Biography Born “near Farmville", Prince Edward County, Virginia to Charles Scott Venable, aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert E. Lee from 1862 to 1865 and professor of mathematics at the University of Virginia from 1865 to 1896, and Margaret Cantey (McDowell) Venable. In 1879, Venable earned a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia. He was offered the chair in the chemistry department at UNC in 1880. A year later, he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Göttingen, and was elected fellow of the Chemical Society of London. In 1893, Venable occupied the first endowed chair at UNC, the Mary Ann Smith Professorship. In collaboration with undergraduate students William R. Kenan, Jr. and Thomas Clarke and former student John Motley Morehead III, he identified calcium carbide, a discovery of great commercial importance that led to the development of acetylene and the founding of Union Carbide. In 1899, he was elected vice president of the chemistry section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.