PEOPLE Deaths Edward R. Weidlein, retired president of the Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, and former ACS president, died Aug. 15, 1983. He was 96. An exceptional scientist and a pioneer in the control of air pollution, Weidlein was the driving force behind the cleanup of Pittsburgh as the "smoke city." Born in Augusta, Kan., Weidlein was a graduate of the University of Kansas. He joined Mellon Institute in 1916 as an associate director, and became director in 1921. He was appointed president and chairman of the board of trustees in 1951; he retired from the institute in 1956. During his more than 40-year career, Weidlein presided over pioneering years in industrial research. From his earliest arrival in Pittsburgh, it was his goal to rid the city of its soot and smoke problems. Determined that it could be done Weidlein started a long-term smoke control
campaign. He began achieving his goal in 1947 while he was chairman of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, an organization established by civic leaders of the county to save their city from dying. The conference, which he served from 1944 until 1950, is credited with bringing about the renaissance of Pittsburgh. Weidlein also worked for the federal government as a "dollar-a-year man" during World Wars I and II, and is generally credited with bringing together the chemists who developed synthetic rubber for the War Production Board during WW II. Weidlein received many medals and awards for his distinguished work; more notable among them was the Priestley Medal in 1948. He served as an officer and member of many organizations concerned with science, including president of ACS in 1937. He joined ACS in 1909 and was an emeritus member.
Grover Dunn, 72, founder and president of Dunn Laboratories, Atlanta, Sept. 19, 1983. Dunn was chairman of the Georgia Section in 1965. Joined ACS in 1947; emeritus member. John H. Erbar, 51, professor of chemical engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Sept. 17, 1983. Erbar joined the OSU faculty in 1962 as an assistant professor of chemical engineering; he was named full professor in 1969. Erbar was an expert in computer applications in chemical engineering and taught courses in chemical engineering design, thermodynamics, fluid flow, stagewise operations, and others. Howard A. Jones, 79, former chief of the pesticides branch of the division of food chemistry, Food & Drug Administration, Nov. 11,1983, Takoma Park, Md. Jones, a native of New York City, received his B.S. and M.S. in chemistry from George Washington University. He also attended George Washington University medical school and the University of Maryland. Jones joined USD A in 1926; from 1942 to 1946, he was in charge of chemical work at the Orlando, Fla., division of insects affecting man and animals. In 1946, Jones joined U.S. Industrial Chemical Co. in Baltimore. In 1958 he rejoined FDA where he remained until his retirement in 1972. During his career Jones developed 35 patents and authored 88 publications on pesticides. Joined ACS in 1930; emeritus member. Mary Eugenia Kapp., 74, professor emeritus, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Nov. 19, 1983. Kapp received her Ph.D. in analytical chemis-
try from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1938. She taught chemistry at Blackstone College, Averett College, and Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University before joining the faculty of Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary (now Virginia Commonwealth University), as assistant professor of chemistry and head of the chemistry department. During World War II, Kapp worked as assistant chief chemist for Du Pont in Richmond; she returned to Richmond Professional Institute in 1946 as associate professor. In 1952, Kapp was appointed professor and named chairman of the school of applied sciences, in which she continued until her retirement in 1973. She was the first woman to be elected chairman of the Virginia Section (in 1952), and received the sections' Distinguished Service Award in 1969. Joined ACS in 1937; emeritus member. Clyde W. Mason, 85, emeritus professor of chemical engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., Dec. 8, 1983. Mason taught at Cornell for 33 years and served as the Emile M. Chamot Professor of Chemical Microscopy in the college of engineering since 1958; he retired in 1966. Mason specialized in microscopical properties and behavior of chemicals, construction materials, and manufactured products. An internationally recognized authority on light microscopy, he was the author of "Introduction to Physical Metallurgy," and coauthor with the late Prof. Chamot of "Handbook of Chemical Microscopy." Joined ACS in 1923; emeritus member.
Edward R. Weidlein
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Michell J. Sienko, 60, chemistry professor at Cornell University, Dec. 4,1983, Ithaca, N.Y. A native of Bloomfield, N.J., Sienko did his undergraduate studies at Cornell; he received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1946. He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1947 after spending a postdoctoral year at Stanford University. Sienko was the author or coauthor of seven books, and for his influence on chemistry teaching he received the ACS Award in Chemical Education last year. He was a leader in the field of solid-state inorganic chemistry, especially in the areas of electrical and magnetic properties of tungsten bronzes, metal-ammonia systems, and the layered dichalcogenides; he published more than 100 articles on his research. Sienko was the cofounder and editor of the Journal of Solid State Chemistry. An ACS member since 1948, he served for several years on the examinations committee of the Division of Chemical Education. Joseph H. Simons, 86, professor of chemistry at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Dec. 30, 1983. Born in Chicago, Simons attended the University of Illinois and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He served on the faculties of the University of Puerto Rico, Northwestern University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Florida. From 1932 to 1950, Simons conducted research in fluorine chemistry and particle scattering at Penn State, and continued his research at the University of Florida from 1950 until his retirement in 1967. His contributions were recognized by the Society of Sigma Xi and the American Chemical Society; he received the Award in Fluorine Chemistry in 1973. Simons was probably best known for inventing the electrochemical method of producing fluorocarbons and their derivatives in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. However, he considered his work in particle scattering much more fundamental and to have had a more meaningful scientific value. Simons was the author of numerous papers in his field, editor of a series of volumes on fluorine chemistry, and the author of two philosphical texts. Joined ACS in 1924; emeritus member. Hyman W. Zussman, 68, former CibaGeigy division president, Nov. 7, 1983, Greenwich, N.Y. Zussman was born in Boston; he received an M.S. from Harvard University in 1938. He joined Alrose Chemical Co. in 1943, and Geigy Chemical Corp.,in 1949. From 1957 to 1970 he was president of Geigy's industrial chemicals division, and from 1970 to 1976 was president of the plastics and additives division. Since 1976, Zussman had been a consultant to Ciba-Geigy and to Exxon. Joined ACS in 1943.
