▸ Obituaries John M. Birmingham
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John M. Birmingham, 87, died on April 24 in Longmont, Colo. “As a student at Harvard in 1952, John prepared the first organozirconium compound, zirconocene dibromide. John worked in the group of Geoffrey Wilkinson, who, along with Robert B. Woodward in 1951 had just described dicyclopentadienyliron— ferrocene. John wanted to be among the first to work in the emerging field joining organic and inorganic chemistry. In 1960, it was discovered that zirconocene dichloride could be used to catalyze ethylene polymerization. These early discoveries eventually led to metallocene olefin polymerization, which is widely employed to manufacture polymers. John was the founder of Boulder Scientific Company, which today is a leading supplier of metallocenes.”—Scott Birmingham, son
Most recent title: chair, Boulder Scientific Company
Education: B.S., chemistry, MIT, 1951; Ph.D., chemistry, Harvard University, 1955 Survivors: daughter, Kim Kanas; sons, James and Scott
Raymond Chang Raymond Chang, 77, died on April 10 in Bainbridge Island, Wash. “A prolific author, Raymond produced an assortment of books for nearly 50 years. Best known is his general chemistry textbook, first published in 1976 and now in its 12th edition. He was beloved by chemistry educators and enjoyed rock-star-like celebrity at meetings. Raymond’s enthusiasm for chemistry and his passion for teaching captured the imaginations of aspiring chemists and
inspired countless students who were intimidated by chemistry. With only a few lines on an index card, he delivered eloquent lectures, punctuated with masterful chemical demonstrations and corny jokes. His teaching and mentoring were characterized by warmth, charm, and playfulness.”—Jay Thoman, Chip Lovett, and Dave Richardson, colleagues
Keane; sons, Kirk, Roger, and Craig; stepsons, Walter Solomons and Andrew Meacham; 16 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren
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James H. Cooley James H. (Jim) Cooley, 87, died on May 10 in Troy, Idaho.
Most recent title: professor of natural sciences, Williams College
Education: B.S., chemistry, Woolwich Polytechnic College at the University of London, 1962; Ph.D., physical chemistry, Yale University, 1966 Survivors: wife, Margaret; daughter, Elizabeth
Lloyd Conover Lloyd Conover, 93, died on March 11 in St. Petersburg, Fla. “In 1952, Lloyd invented the broad-spectrum antibiotic tetracycline. This discovery grew from a scientific hunch: Working with a team that had determined the chemical structures of two Pfizer antibiotics, Aureomycin and Terramycin, Lloyd intuited that since the recently deduced chemical structures of these two antibiotics were identical but for one branch of each molecule—an extra chlorine atom in Aureomycin and an additional hydroxyl group in Terramycin—these anomalous branches might be superfluous. He reasoned that if one could remove them, the resulting compound might also be therapeutically active, perhaps more so than the parent drug. Undeterred by skepticism from his colleagues as to the likelihood of success, Lloyd and a lab assistant succeeded on the first try, using an untested technique. I remember Dad coming home with a calm smile that night and happily pronouncing one word: ‘Eureka!’ ”—Kirk Conover, son
Most recent title: senior vice president of agricultural research, Pfizer
Education: B.A., chemistry, Amherst College, 1947; Ph.D., chemistry, University of Rochester, 1950 Survivors: wife, Katharine; daughter, Heather; stepdaughters, Sue Love, Virginia Karpovich, Katharine Meacham, and Laura
“Following his Ph.D., Jim accepted an assistant professorship at the University of Idaho, rising through the ranks to full professor in 1968 and retiring in 1992. He was active in research and passionate about teaching, receiving UI’s highest teaching award. He pioneered the problem-solving approach to the teaching of laboratory courses. Jim faced his death as he had lived—with a sense of humor, pragmatism, great dignity, and concern for the land and most especially for his loved ones.”—Richard V. Williams, friend and colleague
Most recent title: professor, University of Idaho
Education: B.S., chemistry, Middlebury College, 1952; Ph.D., organic chemistry, University of Minnesota, 1958 Survivors: wife, Zoe; daughter, Susan H. Cooley-Matsuura; son, Christopher; stepson, Ben A. May; two grandchildren
Alexander M. Cruickshank Alexander M. (Alex) Cruickshank, 97, died on June 10 in Westerly, R.I. “Alex joined the chemistry department at the University of Rhode Island in the 1940s and rose through the ranks to professor and chair, retiring in 1982. Starting in 1947, he also worked in a parallel role on the staff of the Gordon Research Conferences (GRC). In 1968, Alex became director of GRC, serving in that capacity until his retirement in 1993. During his 25 years as director, GRC expanded its conferences geographically to California, Europe, and Asia and grew the meeting portfolio in scientific breadth as well.”—Carlyle Storm, friend and colleague
Most recent title: director, Gordon Research Conferences NOVEMBER 6, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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Education: B.S., chemistry, Rhode Island State College, Kingston, 1943; Ph.D., chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1954 Survivors: daughter, Elaine O’Neill; son, Gary; four grandchildren
Harold F. Deutsch Harold F. Deutsch, 98, died on June 12 in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. “Harold was a full-time faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, until his retirement in 1987. He published over 230 papers, specializing in purification and crystallization of human proteins. He served visiting professorships in Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Japan, China, and South Africa and received an Alexander von Humboldt award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany in 1984.”—Regine Deutsch, wife
Most recent title: professor emeritus of biomolecular chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison Education: B.S., chemistry, 1940, and Ph.D., physiological chemistry, 1944, University of Wisconsin, Madison Survivors: wife, Regine; daughter, Carolyn Friedl
Warren T. Francis Warren T. Francis, 92, died on Feb. 18 in Oneonta, N.Y. “Warren was a consummate engineer. In his 20s, and in his spare time, he built a jet engine in his garage. Later in life, he designed and built vacation houses on a Maine lake. Still later, as vice president of engineering at CS Industries and as an independent consultant, he designed and built CO2 purification plants throughout the southern U.S.”— Barbara B. Francis, wife
Carl H. Muendel Carl H. Muendel, 86, died on April 22 in Hockessin, Del. “Carl had a lifelong passion for mineral and stamp collecting, was an active member of the Delaware Mineralogical Society, and also served in Meals on Wheels and Read Aloud Delaware during his retirement. He maintained close ties to his relatives in Germany and traveled there extensively. Carl was a man of strong faith and moral convictions; his modesty, kindness, and intellect will be treasured and dearly missed.”—Christopher Arico-Muendel, son
Most recent title: technical service manager for engineering and product safety, DuPont Education: B.S., chemical engineering, 1952, and Eng.Sci.D., chemical engineering, 1959, Columbia University Survivors: wife, Renate; daughter, Anne; sons, Martin and Christopher Arico-Muendel; four grandchildren
neering, CS Industries Education: B.S., chemical engineering, Bucknell University, 1945 Survivors: wife, Barbara; daughters, Catherine and Sarah; sons, James and David
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and Miriam; son, Paul
Richard Saferstein Richard Saferstein, 76, died on July 28 in Mount Laurel, N.J. “Rich ran the N.J. State Police crime labs from 1970 to 1991. Upon his retirement in 1991, he started his own consulting business, which he was still working at fulltime. He worked on numerous high-profile cases and wrote several forensic science textbooks, the most famous being “Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science.” This is the leading textbook in the field in the U.S. Richard appeared in over 1,000 courts as an expert witness and published numerous articles throughout his career.”—Gail Saferstein, wife
Most recent title: forensic science consultant
Education: B.S., chemistry, 1963, and
Eugene Roberts
Ph.D., organic chemistry, 1970, City College of New York Survivors: wife, Gail; daughter, Sharon; son, Neal; two grandchildren
Eugene Roberts, 96, died on Nov. 8, 2016, in Monrovia, Calif.
Kal R. Sharma
“In 1943, he was selected to be assistant head of the inhalation section of the Manhattan Project at the University of Rochester in New York to establish safe limits for exposure to uranium dusts. In 1946, Roberts joined the Division of Cancer Research at Washington University in St. Louis, where he developed a comprehensive program to study nitrogen metabolism and characterize differences between normal and neoplastic tissues. In 1950, he was first to report the discovery of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain. The work was key in demonstrating GABA as the main inhibitory neurotransmitter.”— Ruth Roberts, wife
Most recent title: distinguished Most recent title: vice president of engi-
Survivors: wife, Ruth; daughters, Judith
scientist, City of Hope Beckman Research Center Education: B.S., chemistry, Wayne State University, 1940; Ph.D., biochemistry, University of Michigan, 1943; M.D., H.C. University of Florence
Kal R. Sharma, 52, died on Sept. 11, 2016, in Cypress, Texas. “Kal Sharma was an avid debater during his school days and a key member of his high school athletics team (hammer throw was his event). He went on to represent his college in intercollegiate athletic meets. He is the author of several books, including “Nanostructuring Operations in Nanoscale Science and Engineering,” “Transport Phenomena in Biomedical Engineering: Artificial Organ Design and Development and Tissue Engineering,” and “Bioinformatics: Sequence Alignment and Markov Models.”—Ven Kalyanaraman Sharma, brother
Most recent title: adjunct professor, San Jacinto College
Education: B.Tech., chemical engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 1985; Ph.D., chemical engineering, West Virginia University Survivors: father, Subarayan Kalyanaraman; mother, Shyamala; brothers, Kalyanaraman Sivasankaran and Ven Kalyanaraman Sharma
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