The Scovill Professor of Chemistry professorship was established in 1854 by brothers William Henry and James M.L. Scovill who gave $20,000 to endow this professorship. The Scovill brothers were the heads of the Scovill Manufacturing Company. Vernon K. Krieble, the inventor of Loctite, served as the Scovill Professor of Chemistry from 1920 to 1955.