This award is presented annually to the senior major "in the Department of Chemistry who is going on to graduate work in Chemistry and who, in the opinion of the Department of Chemistry, shows the most promise in that field." It consists of a monetary award and a bronze medal. In addition, the winner's name is inscribed on a plaque displayed in the Marx Lounge of Burke Laboratory among the list of previous winners, which includes, at the moment, one Nobel Laureate and one Dartmouth Chemistry faculty member.
The award was established in 1962 through gifts from students and friends of Professor Hartshorn, Dartmouth Class of 1912. One of a large number of related Hartshorns to graduate from Dartmouth (starting with the Rev. Levi Hartshorn, Class of 1813), Elden Hartshorn began his academic career at Dartmouth as a chemistry instructor in 1913. His service to Dartmouth was interrupted by World War I where he served first as Junior Chemical Engineer and then as First Lieutenant in the Research Division of the Chemical Warfare Service. After the war, he did research in organic chemistry at the University of Minnesota, leading to a PhD in 1922. He then returned to Dartmouth where he served not only as chair of the department but also as Chair of the Division of Sciences. He retired in 1954, and died in Hanover in 1961.
