Carl Shipp "Speed" Marvel has been considered "one of the world's outstanding organic chemists. C. S. Marvel was born in Waynesville, Illinois on September 2, 1894. After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Marvel entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where his dormitory mates gave him the nickname “Speed” because he could work late in the laboratory, sleep as late as possible the next morning, and still get to breakfast just before the dining hall closed. Marvel used his nickname throughout his career, even in official correspondence. 

Professor Marvel received many awards in honor of his achievements: election to the National Academy of Sciences, 1938; Nichols Medal, New York Section ACS, 1944; Priestly Medal, ACS, 1956; election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1960; first ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry, 1964; Perkin Medal, American Section, Society of Chemical Industry, 1965; National Medal of Science, 1986. He died on January 4, 1988 in Tucson, Arizona, United States.