people
Swissair crash takes scientists' lives
N
umerous scientists, many of whom worked in the chemical sciences, were killed when Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the sea off Nova Scotia on Sept. 2. At least two chemical industry executives were also among the 229 peo ple onboard—all of whom were killed. Maria Tzamarioudaki, 31, was a chem ist at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Tzamarioudaki received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1990, then came to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. degree at Stony Brook. She re ceived her degree in 1996, then did a nine-month postdoctoral stint at the Uni versity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She returned to SUNY Stony Brook in 1997 to work with her Ph.D.-degree advis er, Iwao Ojima. Ojima said that Tzamari oudaki "was my academic daughter, and I always felt that Maria was one of my family." Her research was primarily di rected at the catalytic use of transition metals for the efficient synthesis of new molecular structures and the preparation of chemical substances with biological activity. She was headed to Geneva for a job interview with Serona, a pharmaceu tical research firm. Eugenia Spanopoulou, 37, was a teacher and researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center's Derald H. Ruttenberg Cancer Center in New York City. After receiving a Ph.D. degree from Kings Col lege London, she came to the U.S. to do postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology under David Bal timore. Baltimore, now president of Cali fornia Institute of Technology, called Spanopoulou's death "a great loss to the scientific community." Her work involved the biochemistry and regulation of Rag-1 and Rag-2 proteins, and she had also worked on the role of molecular mechanisms of the immune system in the early stages of leukemia and lymphoma. She and her husband, Andrew Hodstev, 39, also an immunologist, were taking their 18-month-old son to Greece to be christened. Jay Jasan, 40, was a virologist who worked at Merck & Co. in its clinical devel opment studies program, testing pharma ceuticals' effects on people. He was travel ing to Geneva for a business meeting. Don Scheer, 49, was a biochemist from
Norfolk, Mass., who traveled around the world to promote his discoveries. This trip to Europe, during which he was going to promote a new product he designed to separate DNA strands, was going to be his last business trip overseas. Victor Rizza, 58, was a chemist and professor at the University of Catania in Sicily. He and his 14-year-old son had been visiting relatives in Connecticut and were heading home. Two physicists associated with Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., were also killed in the crash. Klaus KinderGeiger, 36, was an associate theoretical nuclear physicist at BNL, and Per Sparine, 53, was a guest researcher at BNL's Na tional Synchrotron Light Source. BNL Di rector John Marburger said that "the loss of two such men, who both possessed sharp minds and remarkable personalities, is a great tragedy." Kinder-Geiger, who was headed to Ita ly to speak at a workshop, worked on quark-gluon plasma, a state of matter that is theorized to have existed immediately after the big bang. Spanne's work was fo cused on finding new ways to use X-rays for medical diagnosis and treatment, and for high-resolution imaging of objects. He worked at BNL full time from 1989 to 1996 and was retarning to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Greno ble, France, where he was employed. Other scientists on the flight included Roger Williams, an expert in cardiovascular genetics; Jonathan Mann, a prominent AIDS researcher; and Mary Lou Clements-Mann, an epidemiologist and vaccine expert. Maryline Junod, 42, was the manager of fine permmery/analytical services at In ternational Flavors & Fragrances in New York City and oversaw the quality of mate rials going into perfumes. As part of her job, she worked in R&D at the company's Union Beach, Ν J., facility, and in fine fra grances at the company's Hazlet, N.J., site. She was a Swiss national and was traveling to Geneva to visit her family. Robert E. Hewson Jr., 42, was treasurer of UCAR International, a graphite- and car bon-electrode manufacturer. Hewson worked for Union Carbide in New York City from 1977 until 1991 in the compa ny's accounting and treasury departments. He joined UCAR in 1991. Diana Slade
Deaths. JOHN D. CAPLAN, 72, died April 27 of complications of renal cancer. Caplan worked in automotive research at General Motors from 1949 to 1987, and retired as executive director of the General Motors Research Laboratories. Caplan was a leader in the early investi gations of automotive air pollution and served as an industry spokesman on mat ters related to air pollution. In 1964, he re ceived the Crompton-Lanchester Medal for automotive engineering from the British In stitution of Mechanical Engineers. He was a member of the National Academy of Engi neering and a fellow of the American Insti tute of Chemical Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Society of Automotive Engineers. During his retirement, Caplan continued to work by evaluating research proposals for the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce. Caplan received a B.S. degree in chemi cal engineering from Oregon State Univer sity, Corvallis, in 1949 and an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit, in 1955. He com pleted the advanced management program at Harvard Graduate School of Business Ad ministration in 1976. Joined ACS in 1950; emeritus member. JOSEPH H. NOGGLE, 61, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Delaware, died on March 13 of a heart at tack. Noggle was a member of the ACS Delaware Section, most recently serving as developer and webmaster of the sec tion's home page. Noggle was a faculty member at the Uni versity of Wisconsin, Madison, before mov ing to the University of Delaware in 1971. He was a renowned educator and author of a textbook of physical chemistry that has gone through three editions. In addition, he published six books on various aspects of the use of personal computers in solving problems in physical chemistry and engi neering and numerous research papers on NMR spectroscopy. His research efforts centered on under standing the nuclear Overhauser effect, an effect widely used to deterrnine structural features of molecules in solution. A colleague says, "Noggle was the quintessential profes sor—witty, somewhat absentminded, and fo cused. His concern for his students was ap parent in his dealings with them. A long line of students dreaded, and subsequently ap preciated, the demanding course on physical chemistry he offered at the University of Delaware." He obtained a B.S. degree from Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., in I960 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1963 and 1965. Joined ACS in \9βΊΛ SEPTEMBER 28, 1998 C&EN 4 5
