xt7tb27ps04f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7tb27ps04f/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky. College of Arts and Sciences. Department of Chemistry 1988 newsletters  English University of Kentucky. Department of Chemistry Newsletters Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry newsletters Chem-news, Spring 1988 text Chem-news, Spring 1988 1988 2019 true xt7tb27ps04f section xt7tb27ps04f 4» :i’ ; .; - . ~ , ' . , . ,
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New Chairman — DaVid S Watt
I
Professor David Watt has accepted a four— ¢%@€::Va:@ six graduate students and five postdoctoral
year term as Chairman of the Department, Wwfi «;,;§’:fligfrgg%gsg fellows. His research is supported by grants
effective July 1, 1987. Dave received his g’fi‘w‘;w§§g,% from the National Seience Foundation and the
bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in ‘géfiewfgzrr " 3‘11...” National Institutes of Health.
1967 and PhD. from Harvard University in giggzéaaw . 7,22;
1972 where he worked With Professor E. j. 1%)!” "$35?
. . . 5.th 3‘ ”r » w j
Corey in the area of synthetic organic {W‘im\ 36%;?" " .vltfif‘
chemistry. After a postdoctoral pos1tion in first. i , trifzg
. . «Law» I WpYa/I
biochemistry at Harvard, he held a number 4 y 7 , We and,”
of pOSItions at the Univers1ty of Colorado, ”,5. s. nggé%fl
Pfizer, Inc., and the University of Wyoming :37" 7,71 ’W “767»;
before movmg to the UniverSity of Kentucky :2? g ~ « :gflgié’
in 1985 With a JOlI’lt appomtment in the Col- fjxf avg/é;
lege of Pharmacy and the Department of " 7573a,, ”if;
. a Wk
C hemistry. fir,“ Sit-3;
His research interests include the syntheSis “WW/"fiagaf
and mechanism of action of various natural
products, and his current research group has David Watt, Chairman
“f h N C h '
a essage tom t e ew airman
Like all my predecessors in this position, have recently created the “Chemistry Endow- coming year. The success of these new
I have aspirations for this Department which ment Fund” with a long—term view of using research programs will depend on the in—
reflect my confidence that we possess both the the interest to support programs of this type. itiative ofthe investigators, on a steady supply
facult and the students necessar to develo The raduate ro ram thrives but re uires of 00d raduate students, and on access to
Y Y P g P g q g g
1 solid undergraduate and graduate programs additional increases in teaching assistant modern instrumentation. The instrumenta-
in chemistry. At the undergraduate level, we stipends in order to continue to attract the best tion in the Department has undergone some
must continue to emphasize that a career in students. Although the University added a dramatic improvements in the last year with
chemistry can be rewarding. We hope to at— substantial increment to these stipends last the availability of funds through a state bond
tract potential majors in chemistry through a year, still more is needed to raise our stipends issue. We have acquired two new high field
generous, anonymous gift which led to an to a level competitive with other institutions. NMR spectrometers: a Gemini 200 MHz and
Undergraduate Scholarship Fund handled ex- In the future, we hope to use endowment Varian 4-00 MHz instruments. The former in-
clusively by the faculty. We have already funds to supplement graduate student stipends strument is a routine “hands-on” NMR
made several awards to talented under— and provide much needed summer support for which is available to investigators on a “sign-
graduates, and we hope to use some of these graduate students. up” basis. In addition, we have also acquired
funds to encourage undergraduate research Under the able leadership of Bob Guthrie, a LAMMA, a laser actuated microprobe mass
participation this coming summer. We are ac- the Department has hired five energetic and analyzer used for elemental analysis at the
tively seeking extramural support for such productive young faculty members, and we cellular level. A high power laser “burns” a
undergraduate research programs, and we would like to hire two additional faculty in the 1-2 micron diameter hole in thin slices of

 biological tissue and the ions produced are stipends, and new instrumentation, we need tific meetings. The newly created “Chemistry
processed through a time of flight mass spec- your help. The funds which you provide to Endowment Fund’7 will provide a long—term
tromcter. Analyses of most of the periodic the “Chemistry Development Fund” provide solution to these and other problems. We
table are possible. a year—to—year source of funds which we use welcome your support Of either or both of
Despite the hiring of new Assistant PI‘O- to augment woefully inadequate funding for these programs.
fessors, increases in teaching assistantship research needs, seminars, and travel to scien—
t/(PI‘ , new" new f, :" if 35,3; 1: V15?» ":5 c L: ll: F Pi rl flail-l /’§\ {"1 y
leak-PD WU mm (<39 {U tLe-y tl ll U J lfli tail 111:6 it: 191 if MU tt
This issue of the newsletter covers events “
and information for the 1986-87 academic 1, ‘
year and the first semester of the 1987—88 , l
academic year. We were fortunate to lure , " ° , 3
David Watt fullitime from the College of . .1 , ' , i
Pharmacy to assume the chairmanship for a i . , ‘_ , . ." . * '1 l, ,5 -_«« :-
four—year term. We are featuring a section on , , ' . _« ‘ l1 (\ . j“, ,7 ‘ i
our alumni who graduated 1945—49 and a i ' ' . , i f ./ 7 _ , 3.“; L
Special section on the establishment of the ' , , I l ' i," ' : ‘ If ,‘ " i 1:1,",
Chemistry Endowment Fund. i . ' '1 y I
The Thirteenth Annual Symposium on 1 V' f- ' f i i. '5" i ‘ ‘ y
Chemistry and h/folecularBiology, supported . i . if . 1 7 f i 3 .i’i'iiT'y-H:
by the fund in memory ofAnna S, Naff, was E 1’3 , , , i 1‘ 7/
held April 24, 1987. The topic was Electron ' .~ ' . - 3 i _ , ,
Transfer in lVIetalloproteins. Speakers were: . s i \F' if '-I
Harry B. Gray, Arnold O. Beckman Professor 1»— . ____‘#__a_._¥________ F ‘i———-—* ————~- ' ‘ "
ofChemistry and Director ofthe Beckman In-
stitute at the California Institute of 1987.S_')r1n/Jo.iiunz an Client/sir)» and Illa/Mufar Biology
Technology; Brian 1V1, Hoffman, Professor of ,
Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northwestern Ltft m 7’1gflfffl/I. B. Nrtff, H. B. Gray, G. .Mcha’mz, B. A1, Hoffman, W H, Orme-fa/zmon.
University; George lVchendon, Professor of
Chemistry, University of Rochester; and graduate Poster Competition on April 25, appropriations, Please be sure to specify that
V’Villiam H, Orme-Johnson, Professor of 1987. Over 20 poster presentations were any contributions you send are for our Cheni-
Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of presented from seven regional schools. istry Endowment Fund or Development Fund
Technology. Our thanks go to those of yeti who respond or other restricted funds in Chemistry. Dona~
The Student Affiliates of the ACS again to our request for news which I hope you en- tions may be sent through the Director of
sponsored a competition for 57 high school joy in our Alumni News Section. \Ne urge you Development, William B. Sturgill Develop-
chemistry students on April 4-, 1987, Besides to keep us informed about your activities on merit Building, University ofKentucky, Lex-
receiving awards for scoring high on the ex- the enclosed form and please let us know of ington, KY 41-0506. When you come to Lex-
aminations students also are awarded credit any change of address, ington, please stop by the Department for a
for general chemistry if they enroll at UK. I would like to add my thanks for your con- visit.
The Department, under the leadership of tributions which make possible many activities
Jim Holler, sponsored a Regional Under- and support that is not available from state Bill \Nagner, Editor
fl [7/7 t/CA L A... D an: , Fr: -. F in
dis. enertitstry endowment: Fund ,
A new endowment fund for the Department ated the plans for the Chemistry Endowment Development Fund and other fellowship and .
of Chemistry has been established in the Fund. A special mailing to all alumni and program funds have been of great assistance.
University of Kentucky Development Office. friends giving details about the fund is being The establishment of an endowment fund will
The fund is to be used primarily for both prepared and should reach you in February. assure us ofa continuing source ofincome to
graduate and undergraduate research fellow- The margin between a good and an out- supplement any annual contributions. All con—
ships, The Department is grateful to Marshall standing program is often the outsitle support tributions should clearly be specified “for the
Frazer for being the prime mover in sug- received from alumni, friends, and private Chemistry Endowment Fund” in order for the
gesting and helping form the basis for the corporations, which offers a degree ofllexibili- funds to be credited to the proper Devel0p~
fund. TVTZU‘Sthll was asked to prepare the ac— Ly to the Department and provides support ment Office account.
ctnnpanying autobiography so all of you will and recognition for excellence among students Marshall G. Frazer, Ph.D., 1968. It all
know something about the person who initi- and faculty. In the past contributions to our started in Nashville, TN with a birthday gift

 for my tenth birthday in 1947, of a Gilbert At Duke, I met and married my wife, Vir-
chemistry set. This was rapidly expanded in~ , , ginia, who was a graduate student in
to a chemistry laboratory in the basement . E, 'E ' E chemistry. For the academic year 1970 to
where I did experiments in electrolysis of " ,' ' 1971, we were in Nashville, TN and I held
water and HCl, attempts at gunpowder pro- a second postdoctoral position with Dr.
duetion, sulfuric acid manufacture, and H,_,S E 'E', Donald Pearson of Vanderbilt University,
generation much to the displeasure of my From July 1971 untilJuly 1973, l was a Fellow
father upstairs. In high school, I succeeded in E ‘ in Clinical Chemistry at Norton Children’s
adding such elements and compounds as E Hospital in Louisville, KY.
metallic sodium, elemental phosphorus, and ,: In December of 1973, I began my employ—
‘r‘ MnO2 for chlorine generation as a result of , , ' merit in the Division of Endocrinology at the
their being discarded by the science teacher. E Vanderbilt University iVIedical Center. Over
Four years at Vanderbilt University the years, my responsibilities have included
3 resulted in a B.S. in chemistry and an interest supervision and direction ofa laboratory con—
in organic chemistry. After graduation in ccrned with blood plasma analyses for hor-
1959, I spent the summer with Allied , E ' rnones such as angiotensin I, angiotensin II,
Chemical Company in Wilmington, DE and ‘ ' aldosterone, and many prostaglandins. My
then began an 18—month employment with E. ~' research activities have included studies of the
I. duPont de Nemours, Company in the tex— 7 1; E causes of hypertension, prostaglandins in the
tile fibers department at their plant in y E’ function of the lung, and the development of
Waynesboro, VA in the Shenandoah Valley. —-—— analyses ofhormoncs. At present, my faculty
My employment at duPont was interrupted ”fig/mg] G. Frazer position at Vanderbilt is that of a Research
by six months on active duty in the U. S. Associate.
Army, after which time I continued with organic chemistry, minors in biochemistry and Virginia and I have two children. Stanton
duPont until September of 1961. microbiology, and research with him in is nine years old and attends the third grade.
IVIy graduate studies at the University of heterocyclic organic chemistry. Andrew is six years old and goes to kinder-
Kentucky began the Fall semester of 1961. After graduation in December of 1968, I garten. NIy main hobby is growingr cactus
With the helpful guidance of Dr. Ellis V. began a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at plants for fun and sometimes pain ifl don’t
Brown, my studies included a major in Duke University with Dr. Charles Bradsher. watch out.
E45 * e E E c "
t; s New Presueent
David P. Roselle became the ninth Presi- ' ’ ' ' '
dent of the University on July 1, 1987, suc- E
ceeding Otis A. Singletary. For the previous ,
three and a half years he served as provost of
Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Roselle has 4 , E
a PhD. in mathematics from Duke Univer- . ' '
sity and was a professor at the University of f
Maryland and Louisiana State University. In ‘ E E
1974 he became a professor of mathematics E;
at Virginia Tech. In 1978, he was recognized , , . , ‘E
for his teaching excellence. He also served as ‘ , .
dean of the graduate school and research. At E .
Virginia Tech he was known as an innovator
by his colleagues and has been recognized na- E
: tionally for his initiatives in computing and '
J information systems. His appointment as E
President of UK was enthusiastically sup— ,
. ported by the faculty.
E ’J
David P. Rosella President

 i 1' .1 5‘. 9‘ ._ We T: H . .. a, if] ,1 . . ‘17- La . {:13 I ,. , ,2 .1 '3 ,n
151.:5‘1111111'11511 1:911“ 111 111111 L ‘1/ L a 1 e to re1it1o n
The Lexington Section of the American ' '
Chemical Society celebrated back— to—back on '
l\l(l\'t‘llll)(.tl‘ 5 and 6. the 75th Anniversary of ,
the Section and National Chemistry Day, The
:‘inniversary celebration featured a visit from _ i
AnnaJ. I‘larrison, the iirst woman President 3
of the :i‘xlllc‘l‘lcilll Chemical Society, who ad— '
dress-ed the Section on the evening ofNovem—
bcr 5. As part of the evening’s activities Dr. , S
Harrison presented a charter to the newly .
established EBA—ACS group at Transylvania
University. A 75-Year History of the Section
was distributed to all members.
On the evening of November 6, about 150 V
visitors from the Lexington community visited .. A J
UK fora Chemistry Open House in celebra—
tion of the first National Chemistry Day. (In 1 . ,
numbers, nothing like the 20,000 that come ‘ ,
to basketball games, but nevertheless quite an ‘
enthusiastic crowd.) Features thatjammed the
tour routes included W’ib ht’latcyka and his ,
glassblowing demonstration and a spectacular i , '
laser show conducted by Dennis Clouthier and , ,
Toni Cuarr. The grand finale was a fast- y .
moving chemical demonstration show by _ 1 ‘
Diane Vance, her husband John lVIoll, and
two assistants, W’illiam Thomas and Kevin 1 !
Cooke. that kept visitors entranced. h/Iany '
said that they would come back — next year! .
We must do this again! '
The program was organized and spearhead- '
ed by Audrey Companion, current Chairman H I T _. T i
‘ of the Lexington Section of the ACS. National Chemistry Day Celebration
a ,4. , ,1 11;. '1 , ,. 3 ._ 1 ,_ v; 1’? rife to ,«1, W I:
-; ; 51:11 1' 41 1o 119 111 111115 1 11/5419 AU 1.1 111 r11
We are pleased to present the responses effort to return the next day and try to get in— istry course, which included just about every
from the following alumni in answer to our to a class, any class. When I arrived the next undergraduate course offered in the depart-
requcst to bring us up-to-datc on their ac- morning there was a message to see my ad merit. This was a real opportunity, because
tivities since graduation. we hoped for a visor, Professor Otto Koppius from the it brought me in contact with every staff
greater response and hope some of you will Physics Department. To my surprise and member there at the time.
respond so we can include yours in the next delight he handed me a complete schedule, Freshman chemistry lectures were by L. L. ,
newsletter. signed and approved, containing every class Quill, who had just arrived as department
m ,, I had sought. Overnight, additional sections head. R. N. Maxson taught qualitative analy—
19523 of all those classes had been formed, and he sis -— he had taught my father and brother
Lichen-:1 E. Hunt, 8.8. My college career had enrolled me in every one of them. It’s easy before me. Sadly, he passed away the follow~ '
i at UK began with fall registration in 1942 7 to see why Dr. Koppius was one of my fav— ing year. I had the pleasure of being a stu—
i and I truly thought that it was going to end orites throughout my college years. dent lab worker for ProfessorJ. R. lVIitchell,
l the same day that it began. That year saw the After that first quarter things settled down preparing laboratory solutions and, with Tom
, largest enrollment to that time in the Univer- into a routine. The number of students soon Earle, helping prepare some of the classic lec—
sity # about 111,000, I believe. After standing dropped drastically due to the activities oflocal turc demonstrations Professor Mitchell was
i in what seemed like hundreds of lines for an draft boards until there were only about a famous for. We learned lots of inorganic
1 equal number of hours in each, I had failed fourth as many students on campus. The small chemistry that way, which never appears in
‘ to become enrolled in a single class I had group of chemistry majors not taken into ser- books. We were paid the magnificent sum of
‘ sought for my carefully chosen schedule. I vice progressed through the chemistry cur- thirty~f1ve cents an hour, butitwas worth far
I went home wondering ifit would be worth the riculum. I had selected the Industrial Chem— more to us. We also took the time to attend
i
t
l
l
l

 l

l
those lectures, carefully taking seats several My graduate work was done under William demonstration. As a lab assistant I helped him
rows back from the front when he lectured on S. Johnson in the development of methods of prepare his demonstrations and was amazed
hydrogen. We knew what was coming! synthesis leading to structures related to the at the planning and effort required to present

Quantitative analysis under Professor 0. J. D-ring of the steroid nucleus. I took an M.S. such effective lectures. Professor Stewart’s

Stewart was an unforgettable experience. We in 1947 and completed my Ph.D. in 1949. methods of calculations were mentioned in last
learned to work problems by the “picket On August 1, 1949 I reported to work for year’s newsletter. In addition to “floor sweep-

fence” method, to multiply and diVide by Shell Oil Company at their Houston Research ings’ ’, I recall the presence of “red neckties”

“red neckties” and “9,47 bricks in McVey Laboratory, located within the Houston and “the figure that all chemists know” in his

Hall”, and to chant to ourselves as we worked, Refinery on the Houston Ship Channel. The problems. He said that your secretary could

s “cc’s of one normal solution in one cc of solu- laboratory was devoted to process research, perform the calculations once you had for-
tion”. These may sound strange to Students and I soon found that even organic chemists mulated the equations. Alas, I never found

today, but they taught us to organize our frequently worked in steel vessels and pipe such a secretary. Perhaps this was covered in
thoughts, avoid extraneous data, and to use rather than glass. My work involved some a graduate course? I also assisted Professor

’ dimensional analysis as we worked simple or organic synthesis, but over the years I work- Stewart in his quantitative lab sections. This
complex problems. They impressed quanti- ed with liquid chromatography, solvent ex— lead to my first publication — a lab manual
tative analysis on us as deeply as the seven traction, radiochemistry (after a course at Oak describing the experiments and calculations
grooves Professor Stewart wore in the floor Ridge), and many other fields. Most of these for his class — and my first exposure to a good
behind his lecture desk as he paced back and were applied to analytical research, and the editor. One experiment in organic chemistry
forth during his lectures. The value of this greater part of my career with Shell was spent was the preparation of methyl orange. As I
training came home to me later in graduate in that activity. was finishing the preparation, the beaker tip-
school at the University of Wisconsin. When In 1956 I was made Group Leader of the ped over, spilling the contents all over the
Itook the inorganic and analytical qualifying Physics Group which included mass spec- bench. At that worst possible moment Pro—
examination (with about 100 other graduate trometry, NMR, and X-ray fluorescence. I fessor Barkenbus entered the lab. He never
students from schools all over the country), remained with this group until 1970 when I said a word, just grabbed a hose, flushed the

i I worked each problem, checked my answers was assigned to Head Office (which moved to remains over to a drain, and left! To this day
twice, and turned in my bluebook in about Houston at that time). After four years there, I have an aversion to methyl orange, for both
45 minutes. Iwaited almost 20 minutes until I went back to the laboratory in the new technical and emotional reasons.
the next person came out of the exam room Westhollow Research Center (also in After receiving my B.S., Iwent to work in
exclaiming about “those difficult problems”. Houston). There I worked again in radio- June 1948 for Union Carbide Corporation in
Most did not finish until the two hours allot- chemistry, developed analytical methods for the analytical section of their R/D Department
ted were over, and many had to repeat the ex- new chemical products, and finally was as- at South Charleston, WV. I remained in this
am. They should have studied under Professor signed as analytical liaison in the toxicology department until my early retirement in
Stewart! laboratory. In 1985, after 35 1/2 years with January 1986 in one ofCarbide’s retirement

P. chem under M. H. Bedford and organic Shell, I retired. incentive programs. During those 37 years I
and qual. organic under Charles Barkenbus Iwas married to Martha Wilkerson of Port worked as an analytical chemist, project
were equally valuable. P. chem was not my Neches, TX in 1952. We have two sons, Earl leader, specification specialist, and group
thing, but the organic caught my fancy, and andJohn. Earl is married and lives in Austin, leader. My duties included the development
Iwent on to do my graduate work at Wiscon- TX where he is in business for himself pro- of specifications and methods of analysis for
sin in that field. All of these courses required viding computer/legal services. John is not raw materials used to produce a wide variety
hard work, but the memories I associate with married. He works in medical biological of industrial organic chemicals, methods for
them are of the teachers and their skill and research in Houston, but recently has spent process streams to permit process control and
patience in seeing that we learned scientific considerable time at Woods Hole, MA at the improvement, and specifications and methods
method and principles and how to apply them Marine Biological Laboratory. We have no for the refined products. The analytical
to chemistry and life. grandchildren, but are frequently visited by methods included wet chemical techniques

Other faculty members who taught us were a host of grand dogs and cats. Martha writes and various instrumental methods such as gas
G. F. Grilliot, Simon Wender, Jacob Meadow poetry (one volume privately published) and chromatography, atomic absorption, and UV,
and Lyle R. Dawson, who replaced L. L. I enjoy building furniture, photography, and visible, and IR spectroscopy. I also supervised
Quill in 1945 as department head. The struggling with a computer. I do some vol— skill centers employing liquid chroma-
students I was most closely associated with unteer work with a church-related social tography, electron microscopy, NMR, and
were Tom Earle, Fred Hill, Lloyd Elkin, L. ministry, and we enjoy our church activities. X-ray fluorescence techniques.
E. (Jack) Kidwell, and David Stanonis. Special assignments included:

1 Iflnished my course work in August 1945, 1947 —- Coauthoring a report on uses of gas
graduated at the summer commencement, Pat Clements Ewing, B.S. Iworked as a chromatography in the analysis of organic
and started graduate work at Wisconsin short- chemist for Kentucky state government at the chemicals. This was intended to aid customers

. ly after VJ day. Again I was involved with a Health Department and the Highway Depart- in the proper use of the technique. However,
massive enrollment, many times larger than ment, Division of Materials. In between my in addition to distribution to customers, the
my first day at UK, but this time I was on jobs, I had six children. I’m now retired and report was used in short courses presented by
the other side. Along with about 50 other have taken up golf. professional groups and was included in the
graduate assistants, I was giving freshman Supplement to Analytical Toxicology
chemistry section assignments to the floods of 1948 Methods Manual, edited by H. M. Stahr,
veterans returning under the GI bill. I was a Robert L. Anderson, B.S. in Industrial Iowa State University.
teaching assistant in general chemistry and Chemistry. Others have shared their remem- — Developing and teaching an in-house
qualitative analysis for most of my four years brances of student days at UK, and each of course on statistics for analytical chemists.
at Wisconsin and consider that among my us has favorite instructors. Professor John This lead eventually to publication of an in—
more valuable experiences. You never learn Mitchell taught my general chemistry class. troductory book on statistics: Practical
a subject so well as when you teach it. He was a master at presenting chemistry by Statistics for Analytical Chemists, Van

 Nostrand Reinhold, 1987. During the 19605 I worked on a variety of longer than anyone else in the history of the
— Representing Union Carbide on ASTM detergent and dentifrice projects and returned company. It has been a great life and Mon-
Committee E-15 on Industrial Chemicals from to do some basic studies in the chemistry of santo has treated me wonderfully well.
its founding in 1959 to my retirement. Iheld pure fractions of polyphosphates. In 1967 I Today I am employed as a Senior Fellow
various offices in this committee including was promoted to Advanced Scientist. In 1968 in the Detergents Division of the Monsanto
chairman and was granted the Society’s I became interested in the role of phosphorus Chemicals Company. It is my plan to retire
Award of Merit. Since retirement I have re- and phosphates in the environment. This work on May 2, 1990. At this time I shall continue
mained active as an affiliate member of the culminated in the editing and publishing of to live the life of an old widower and hope to
committee. the Environmental Phoxphorus Handbook in become the envy of every old man in St.
Retirement has also enabled me to enjoy my 1972. Louis. .,
interests in personal computing, photography, In 1972 IUPAC invited me to deliver the Richard L. McConnell, B.S. During the
‘ music, volunteer work, and travel. main lecture on phosphate chemistry to the summer of 1948, I worked at Tennessee
Edward J. Griffith, M.S., 1948, Ph.D., International Conference in Prague. In this Eastman Company in Kingsport, TN as a
‘ 1951. Thank you for your letter of October same time frame the University of Maryland chemist before entering graduate school at the ’
i 15, 1987. It was surely pleasing to hear from invited me to give a series of lectures on the University of Virginia in September 1948.
you again. I think of you often and the years role of phosphorus on the primitive Earth and Carolyn C. McMeekin (also UK chemistry
I spent at the University. Your request is a to publish a series of papers dealing with this graduate, June 1948) and I were married in
tall order. I have spent an active life and it subject. The papers proved to be the most July 1948. We have three children — Richard
has been almost 37 years since I left Lex- popular I had ever published and were prob- L.,Jr., Ann C. (B.S. in nursing at UK, 1976
ington. I’ll put things in chronological order ably the least scientific. — married to Mark S. Johnson, UK grad-
. and you can edit and delete as you see fit. In 1974 the Ciba Foundation invited me to uate, 1977), and Elizabeth L. (UK graduate,
. In April 1951 Ijoined the Basic Research lecture in London on the world status of 1978). Richard,Jr. and Elizabeth are lawyers.
1 Group of the Phosphate Division of Monsanto phosphorus in a new international symposium We have two grandchildren.
‘; Chemical Company in Anniston, AL. It was they were using to parallel their medical sym- I received an MS. degree in organic
i my job to perform research specifically to be posia. It was in 1978 that I conceived of and chemistry in June of 1950 and a Ph.D. in
published. It was a golden opportunity. obtained patents for a new biodegradable organic chemistry in June of 1952 at the
i In 1952 the group was transferred to substitute for asbestos. In this system University of Virginia. I began work in the
‘ Dayton, OH. I continued to publish as Dr. phosphorus was substituted for silicon in a Research Laboratories of Tennessee Eastman
John Van Wazer and I attempted to put con- structure similar to asbestos. Unlike asbestos Company in November 1951 as a research
densed phosphate chemistry on a sound the phosphate fibers were thermodynamical- chemist. My work over a 35 year period in-
theoretically basis. By 1956 we had ac- ly unstable in the presence of water and the cluded research in organophosphorus chem-
complished our original goal and I became the phosphatase enzymes of the lungs speeded the istry, polyolefin chemistry (catalysis, high M.
first Scientist in Monsanto’s then new In- process. Monsanto developed the process to W. polymers and copolymers, polyolefin
1 organic Division. the point we had a small plant in production waxes, chemically modified waxes), polyester
i In July 1957 the group was again trans- but because the new product was a safe sub- chemistry, hot melt adhesives, emulsifiable
1 ferred. This time we moved into the new stitute the threat of lawsuits was judged too polymers, polymer blends, and flame resistant
[1 research complex in St. Louis, MO and I was greatjust because it was an asbestos substitute fibers, films and plastics. At the time of my
l: requested to leave phosphate research and to and the project was abandoned. retirement in May of 1986, I was a Senior
3 do some basic studies on ammonium nitrate. Two months after the first phosphate fibers Research Associate in the Research Labora-
: The studies of the thermodynamics to the were made my wife of more than 30 years, tories of the Eastman Chemicals Division,
3‘ phase transitions of ammonium nitrate proved a non-smoker, developed lung cancer and died Eastman Kodak Company and supervised the
3‘ to be an almost instant success and by 1960 in 1981. Much of my time and efforts were work of three research groups in the Polymers
: I was given the DuBoise Award for my first devoted to attempting to find ways to com- Research Division. I am author or coauthor
3 significant industrial product. fort and save her life. A short time after the of 25 papers and about 200 patents.
j In 1961 Ibecame interested in tailings waste loss of my wife a young man lost control of During my work at Eastman, I was closely
; and the science of tailings ponds. In the a truck on a wet street colliding with my car. associated with several UK chemistry
‘ manufacture of elemental phosphorus in Ten- Although the accident did not disable me per- graduates including my bother, Wayne V.
‘ nessee a clay fraction of the ore is settled in manently, the loss of my right lung slowed my McConnell, Dr. George Akin, Dr. Russell
gigantic lakes. The colloid chemistry of progress to a crawl. Gilkey, William E. Sweeney, Bill Moore,
systems was intriguing and I have spent a When Monsanto announced the fact that Julian Chaudet, andJack Lewis (physics ma-
small but ongoing part of my career in this they were abandoning the phosphate fiber the jor). With regard to my studies at UK, I think
. study and I still devote part of my time to this announcement received international atten- Dr. Charles Barkenbus was the best teacher ‘
study. The culmination of the work was a tion. Mankind does not have a safe mineral and lecturer that I ever had.
patented process to use electroendosmosis to fiber and the l