Lawrence Olin Brockway (1907-1979) was a physical chemist who spent most of his career at the University of Michigan, where he developed early methods for electron diffraction.
During his career at Michigan he was noted as a committed educator and continued teaching specialized seminars after his retirement.
[4] Brockway's research interests focused primarily on continued development of electron diffraction, which he began studying as a graduate student, and broadened later to include surface chemistry and thin films.
[5] He held a number of leadership positions in scientific societies: he helped to found the American Crystallographic Association and served as its president in 1953, as well as serving in various capacities with the International Union of Crystallography and with the National Research Council.
In addition, he consulted for external institutions working on defense-related projects during World War II and for industrial interests thereafter.