Classnotes
by
Dorothy Isaacson Read
1941
Daniel E. Koshland, Jr.
B.S. UC professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology, Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. (Chem), was named the 2006 winner of the prestigious Welch Award in Chemistry, recognizing his contributions to biochemistry and medical science. Welch Foundation chairman and director, J. Evans Attwell, said, "It is difficult to overestimate the importance of his discoveries and their potential to ultimately improve life." Koshland's "induced fit" theory of enzyme interaction, which posits that enzymes change their shape as they react with other molecules, was first proposed in 1958 and has contributed to advances in drug design and hormone interaction, among other fields. Koshland was also largely responsible for the reorganization of the biological sciences at Berkeley and the concepts behind Berkeley's Health Sciences Initiative. A former editor of Science, he is currently doing research in using energy from sunlight to make hydrocarbon fuels.
1942
B.S. Arthur B. Pardee (Chem) is Professor Emeritus at Harvard University and continues to do research on molecular biology and therapies, publish articles, edit books, and consult at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He was previously on the faculties of UC Berkeley (biochemistry) and Princeton. He is a member of, and has been president of, several national scientific societies. His current interests include playing the cello, tennis, travel and reading. He and his wife, Ann Goodman, live in Cambridge, MA, and have a summer home in Woods Hole.
Art Dunlop (B.S. ’46, Chem) gets acquainted with Chemistry Chair Michael Marletta at the Dean’s Dinner.
1945
B.S. Donald J. Simkin (Chem), who was a teaching assistant for Prof. Calvin's O Chem class in 1944, was also a Hammerschlag Fellow here from 1947-49. He taught rocket science at UCLA from 1958 to 1969, as well as at the U.S. Air Force Edwards AFB in 1959-60. He also served as the chief of rocket propulsion for the Apollo Lunar Program from 1962 to 1969 at Boeing, from which he retired in 2001 after 41 years. He did research and development in the areas of chemical kinetics in rocket engines, zero-G behavior of liquids, space re-entry dynamics, theory of liquids structure, cyclone extraction, and distillation. He has edited three AIChE books and published 25 papers, and he is listed in the Who's Who in Engineering and the Who's Who in Business and Finance. Many members of his family, including his sister, his wife, Natalie, their two sons, and a grandson, are UC graduates.
1958
Ph.D. Kenneth S. Toth (Chem) spent his career at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, working as a senior scientist in the Physics Division. He retired in 2000, and he still makes his home in Oak Ridge, TN.
1961
B.S. James R. Divine, PE (ChemE), was recently elected Fellow of NACE International, The Corrosion Society. He is currently chief engineer at ChemMet, Ltd., PC, a consulting chemical engineering firm in West Richland, WA.
Ph.D. Richard T. Meyer (Chem), who is CEO and President of CIC Photonics in Albuquerque, was awarded the 2004 "SBA Technology Exporter of the Year Award" for the New Mexico District. He was recognized for his company's foreign sales, mostly to Asian countries, which increased to 60% of its total revenues.
Professor Emeritus David Templeton (Ph.D. ’47, Chem) and Earl Worden (Ph.D. ’59, Chem) enjoy the presentation by Professor Emeritus Howard Mel (B.S. ’48, Ph.D. ’54, Chem) during the Cupola Era luncheon.
1965
Ph.D. Donald H. Levy (Chem), Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, received ACS's E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy, sponsored by Rohm and Haas. He was honored, with other ACS national award winners, at the 2006 national ACS meeting in Atlanta.
Frank B. Miles (Chem) earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Washington, and in 1972 he joined the faculty of the mathematics department of California State University Dominguez Hills. Although he retired officially in 2001, he continued to teach part-time through the 2003-2004 academic year. He is now completely retired and enjoying life in Torrance, CA, with his wife, Lyn, who earned a B.S. in bacteriology in 1963.
Darsh T. Wasan (ChemE), Motorola Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering and Vice President for International Affairs at the Illinois Institute of Technology, received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research. He was recognized at their October 2005 meeting in Cincinnati for his discovery of the self-organization of nanoparticles in thin films and the resulting fundamental forces stabilizing them, as well as his contributions to applied research to numerous industries over the past ten years.