In 1986, the American Chemical Society awarded the Priestley Medal to Karl A. Folkers ‘for his numerous contributions to chemistry,” the Society’s most prestigious award.

Folkers had three distinct careers. The first began in 1934 after his fellowship at Yale when he joined the Laboratory for Pure Research at Merck & Co. In 29 years at Merck, Folkers was involved in the isolation, characterization, and synthesis of many important vitamins, antibiotics, and hormones, and he rose to the position of vice president for exploratory research.