Philip Mills Arnold, executive, researcher, and scholar, retired in
1976 as vice president for research and developement of Phillips
Petroleum Company after nearly forty years with the company. Most of his
career was spent in scientific research. He played a ,ajor role in the
company's entry into the chemical industry, in which it rapidly became a
major producer of synthetic rubber, plastics, fibers, and
fertilizers.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering since 1970, Arnold
also has been active in the National Research Council. He served in the
Executive Committee of its Division of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
and on its committee on Scholarly Communication with the Peoples'
Republic of China.
While his professional life has been devoted to science and
technology, his avocaton has been study in the humanities. The holder of
22 patents, Arnold reads widely in several languages. A student of
semeiology - the study of the use of signs and symbols - Arnold has
explored the history of communication, from efforts to relate through
universal languages and alphabets, to systems to conceal, specifically,
codes and ciphers. He founded in 1966 and has supported over the years
the Philip Mills Arnold Semeiology Collection. In addition, Arnold built
other distinguished collections, including early books on comets and
early editions of the medieval philosopher Boethius. Upon Arnold's death
in 1995, the libraries received the bequest, as well as his entire
estate.
Arnold earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in
1932 and a master of science degree in chemical engineering in 1941 from
Washington University. In 1968, he was recognixed at Founders Day with
an Alumni Citation from the Washington University Board of
Governors.
