Ralph Gibbs-Van Name received a B.A. in 1899 and a Ph.D. in 1902 from Yale University. Van Name was an instructor at Yale 1904-09, assistant professor 1909-24, associate professor of physical chemistry 1924-36, research associate in chemistry 1936-44, and research associate emeritus until his death on January 4, 1961. While serving on the Yale faculty, Van Name devoted much attention to memorializing the life and work of his uncle Josiah Willard Gibbs, who had served as a professor of mathematical physics at Yale before him. Van Name helped edit The Scientific Papers of J. Willard Gibbs (1906) and through the Gibbs Memorial Fund assisted in the publication of TheCollected Works of J. Willard Gibbs (1928) and A Commentary on the Scientific Writings of J. Willard Gibbs (1936).