Gennady Michael Kosolapoff became an associate professor of chemistry at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1948. Kosolapoff was research professor of chemistry at the university from 1953 until his death in 1967. A pioneer of organophosphorus chemistry, he earned his doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1936. He was a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and served as chairman of the Auburn section in 1957-1958.

The G. M. Kosolapoff Award Lecture is sponsored annually by the Auburn section of the American Chemical Society and the Auburn University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The award is presented to chemists and biochemists in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions. The idea for the award and lecture originated with Edward Parish, who was chairman of the Auburn section of ACS in 1985. Each year the awardee travels to Auburn University to deliver a general interest lecture and a research seminar. He or she is presented with a silver medallion and receives an honorarium. This accession was donated to the Auburn University Special Collections and Archives Department by Edward Parish, professor emeritus, following his retirement from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in May 2017.