The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume IV G Greene, William Laury GREENE, William Houston, chemist, was born in Columbia. Pa., Dec. 30, 1853, son of Stephen and Martha (Mifflin) Greene. He attended the public schools of Philadelphia and was graduated from Jefferson medical college in 1873. He was demonstrator of chemistry at Jefferson medical college, 1873-76; studied chemistry with Professor Adolphe Wurtz in Paris, 1876-78; and was demonstrator of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, 1878-79. He was then elected to the chair of chemistry in the Central high school of Philadelphia. He was a member of various scientific societies in Europe and the United States and contributed largely to scientific papers. He published: Medical Chemistry (1880); Lessons in Chemistry (1884); Elements of Modern Chemistry by Wurtz (translated 1879); First Steps in Scientific Knowledge by Paul Bert (edited 1886).