Addison Ault

Addison Ault

Mount Vernon

Addison Ault, 90, formerly of Mount Vernon, died Sept. 27, 2023, at Meth-Wick Community in Cedar Rapids, after a long decline with vascular dementia.

Dr. Ault was born July 3, 1933, in Boston, Mass., the eldest child of Warren and Myrtle (Wilcock) Ault. He earned degrees in chemistry from Amherst College (B.A. 1955) and Harvard University (Ph.D. 1959). After a two-year teaching position at Grinnell College and a year at the Argonne National Laboratory, he joined the faculty of Cornell College, where he taught organic chemistry for 50 years (1962-2012). His teaching of organic lab led to his authorship of a lab manual, Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry, that went through six editions in his lifetime and is now in revision for a seventh edition by a team of chemists from both Cornell College and Seton Hall University.

An interest sparked during Dr. Ault’s year at Argonne was nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, a then-new technology being developed for use in organic chemistry structure determination. In the early 1970s, Dr. Ault wrote a National Science Foundation grant that allowed Cornell to acquire an NMR spectrometer, the first of several to be used by Cornell faculty and students for both classroom instruction and research. Dr. Ault also contributed two books to the then-nascent NMR literature: NMR: An Introduction to Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (with Gerald O. Dudek, 1976) and A Handy and Systematic Catalog of NMR Spectra (1980).

During his 50-year tenure at Cornell Dr. Ault built relationships with countless students and collaborated with many faculty, including especially fellow longtime chemistry faculty Dr. William Deskin and Dr. Truman Jordan. In addition to his teaching during the academic year Dr. Ault taught many summers at other institutions including Dartmouth College, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Harvard University. He was a lover of music and for many years he played the cello in orchestras at Cornell and at the Harvard Summer School. He enjoyed playing touch football, attending Cornell men’s cross-country events and occasional participation on Cornell’s RAGBRAI team.

Dr. Ault was married in 1958 to Janet Ruth (Meade) Ault, who survives him. He is also survived by their five children, Margaret Peterson, Philadelphia, Pa.; Warren Ault, Chicago, Ill.; Addison David Ault (Xiangwen Dong), Princeton, N.J.; Peter (Renée) Ault, Mount Vernon, Iowa, and Emily (John) Scully, Winchester, Mass.; and 10 grandchildren, Mark Peterson, Jordan and Xena Ault, Annika and Benjamin Ault, Jack and Henry Ault, and Katie, Brooke and John (Jr.) Scully. A sister, Dr. Mary Harada, of Durham, N.H., also survives him, as do nephews, Jonathan and Matthew Harada and their children.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorial gifts may be directed to the Deskin-Ault-Jordan Chemistry Student Engagement Endowed Fund at Cornell College, 600 First St., Mount Vernon, IA 52314. Formerly the Deskin Fund, this ongoing endowed fund supports the kind of teaching and research with students that characterized the careers of these three longtime Cornell chemistry faculty members.