Research Division
The American University Experiment Station, established by the Bureau of Mines in April, 1917, became July 1, 1918 the Research Division of the Chemical Warfare Service. For the first five months work was carried out in various laboratories, scattered over the country. In September, 1917, the buildings of the American University became available; a little later portions of the new chemical laboratory of the Catholic University, Washington, were taken over. Branch laboratories were established in many of the laboratories of the Universities and industrial plants, of which Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Yale, Ohio State, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Michigan, Columbia, Cornell, Wisconsin, Clark, Bryn Mawr, Nela Park and the National Carbon Company were active all through the war.
At the time of the signing of the armistice the organization of the Research Division was as follows:
| Col. G. A. Burrell | Chief of Research Division |
| Dr. W. K. Lewis | In Charge of Defense Problems |
| Dr. E. P. Kohler[5] | In Charge of Offense Problems |
| Dr. Reid Hunt | Advisor on Pharmacological Problems |
| Lt. Col. W. D. Bancroft | In Charge of Editorial Work and Catalytic Research |
| Lt. Col. A. B. Lamb[6] | In Charge of Defense Chemical Research |
| Dr. L. W. Jones[7] | In Charge of Offense Chemical Research |
| Major A. C. Fieldner | In Charge of Gas Mask Research |
| Major G. A. Richter | In Charge of Pyrotechnic Research |
| Capt. E. K. Marshall[8] | In Charge of Pharmacological Research |
| Dr. A. S. Loevenhart[9] | In Charge of Toxicological Research |
| Major R. C. Tolman | In Charge of Dispersoid Research |
| Major W. S. Rowland[10] | In Charge of Small Scale Manufacture |
| Major B. B. Fogler[11] | In Charge of Mechanical Research and Development |
| Captain G. A. Rankin | In Charge of Explosive Research |
| Major Richmond Levering | In Charge of Administration Section |
The chief functions of the Research Division were:
1. To prepare and test compounds which might be of value in gas warfare, determining the properties of these substances and the conditions under which they might be effective in warfare.
2. To develop satisfactory methods of making such compounds as seemed promising (Small Scale).
3. To develop the best methods of utilizing these compounds.
4. To develop materials which should absorb or destroy war gases, studying their properties and determining the conditions under which they might be effective.
5. To develop satisfactory methods of making such absorbents as might seem promising.