He was a professor of organic chemistry at Wayne State University, and is known for being the first to synthesize the drug ketamine.
[2] Stevens received a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He joined the staff of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, in 1948 and became a full professor of chemistry there in 1954.
[3] He subsequently served as chairman of the chemistry department,[4][5] Vice President for Research, and Interim Provost to the University.
In 1962, while a consultant at the Parke-Davis Laboratories, he synthesized the drug ketamine,[7][8] which is commonly used as a general anesthetic.