spring 1997 CHEMICAL Compositions chemistry & biochemistry

CHEMICALCompositionsthe university of texas at austin spring 1997

chemistry & biochemistrydepartmental newsletter

What's Inside

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On Saturday, October 19,1996, over 90 firefighters were calledto a six-alarm fire that occurred in oneof the labs of Dr. Steve Martin on the5th floor of the West Wing of WelchHall. The fire started when sodiummetal that a postdoctoral researcherthought had been decomposed camein contact with water. This caused asmall fire that erupted into a majorblaze when a nearby glass bottle ofwaste solvent broke and added fuel tothe fire. Noone was in-jured in thefire andthanks to thebrave anddedicated ac-tions of theAustin FireDepartment,the fire wascontained tojust the onelaboratory. However, adjacent labssuffered extensive smoke damage, andthere were problems with loss of utili-ties and asbestos contamination onLevels 4 & 5 in the 1959 addition ofWelch Hall. The loss in chemicals andequipment is estimated at $400K—$500K, but damage to the buildingand associated cleanup have increasedthe total costs of the fire damage toseveral million dollars. Furthermore,there was loss of irreplaceable archi-val material and research projects ofthe students and postdoctoral researchassociates who were impacted, and a3—5 month displacement of faculty

and laboratory personnel.Four days after the fire, Uni-

versity officials met with Fire ChiefRobin Paulsgrove and others from theAustin Fire Department to discussways to improve safety conditions inWelch Hall and other laboratory build-ings on campus. The universityagreed to a number of proceduralchanges and physical modifications tothe building as recommended by theAFD. Among the physical changes

being adopted are the installation of asprinkler system, fire separation com-partments, chemical dams under thefalse floor in the 1979 addition, im-proved alarm system, elevator up-grade, emergency power, a Knox boxfor keys, and improved access to thechemical research storage room.

Fortunately, the West Wingof the building is part of a plannedrenovation project that was scheduledto start this spring. As a result of thefire, we are moving up some of thepre-moves to ready the west wing forthe renovation.

Welch Hall SafetyEnhancement Project Underway

The "Core" committee meets weekly to plan Welch Hall improvements.

Welch Hall Safety .............. p. 1

Chairman's Corner ............... p. 2

Graduate recruiting .............. p. 3

Only in Texas ....................... p. 4

Honorable mention .............. p. 5

Reminiscences ...................... p. 8

1996 - 97 Degree candidates . p. 11

Alum retorts ......................... p. 12

In memoriam ....................... p. 13

Ziegler retires ....................... p. 14

Graduate news ..................... p. 15

Undergraduate news ............ p. 18

Undergraduate awards ........ p. 19

Who we are ......................... p. 20

From the Chairman

Greetings to our friends andalumni of the Department of Chem-istry and Biochemistry at UT -Austin. A major focus of time andenergy for the department since lastfall has been the safety issuesrelated to the fire that occurred inWelch Hall. The department and theuniversity have taken several stepsto improve safety conditions in ourlaboratories. This includes safetytraining, a chemical managementplan requiring chemical inventoriesand limits on the amounts of hazard-ous materials that can be stored in alab. A number of physical changesare being implemented to improvesafety in Welch Hall. Look for moredetail in the cover story of this issueof Chemical Compositions.

Faculty recruitment andretention continue to be majorconcerns and priorities of theuniversity and the department. By

Marvin Hackert

A major focusof time andenergy...has been thesafety issues re-lated to the firethat occurred inWelch Hall.

now you will have heard thatPresident Bob Berdahl is leavingUT-Austin for a similar post at UC-Berkeley and that Provost MarkYudof has taken the position ofPresident of the Univ. of Minnesota.Our faculty also are being offeredprestigious positions at otherinstitutions. We are pleased toannounce two additions to ourfaculty for next fall. Dr. AlanLambowitz (biochemist) hasaccepted the position as Director ofthe Institute for Cellular and Mo-lecular Biology and will have a jointappointment with our departmentand microbiology. The new molecu-lar biology building will be com-pleted this summer and we look forour department to play a major rolein its programs in structural biology,

molecular recognition, and chemicalbiology. Also, Dr. David VandenBout (experimental physical chem-ist) will join our faculty as a newAssistant Professor next fall.

I am pleased to report thatDrs. Dean Appling and TomKodadek were promoted to the levelof Professor this year. Look forstories on these faculty in our fall

newsletter. Dr. William Shive, amember of our faculty since 1944,received a College of NaturalSciences Hall of Honor Award thisspring. One of last year’s awardees,Dr. David Medley, and his wife,Rosemary, share their thoughts ongiving in this newsletter.

I thank all of you who havecontributed your resources of timeand money to us. Next fall’snewsletter will carry a complete listof friends who have donated to thedepartment during this academicyear. It is a pleasure to recognizeand acknowledge the vital role thatsuch individuals play in helping usmaintain our quality programs.Financial support from our alumni isa critical factor in helping us to meetour mission of excellence in bothteaching and research.

Finally, I thank all of youwho sent us comments or tookadvantage of our homepage on theWWW. We do appreciate hearingfrom you and want ChemicalCompositions to be your resourcefor keeping up with what is happen-ing in your department. I am espe-cially grateful to those of you whohave contributed to our departmen-tal history project by sending usphotographs or articles. Pleasecontinue to keep us informed ofhighlights in your activities so thatwe can share them via this newslet-ter. We wish you all a good summerand CONGRATULATIONS to ourseniors and graduates!!

New faculty hires and renovations of primary concern

Poster sessions a big hit during prospective graduate student weekendsDrawing on the future

Prof. Eric Anslyn

Reactivation of our newsletterhas resulted in increasedrequests from alumni foraddresses of other alumni. Ifyou do not wish your addressshared with other departmentalalums, contact Joyce Thoresen,Dept. of Chemistry and Bio-chemistry, UT-Austin, Austin,TX 78712,(512) 471-5916,[email protected]

Early January each yearmarks the beginning of graduate stu-dent recruiting. The deadline this yearfor completing application for admis-sion to our graduate school of chem-istry and biochemistry was January15th. The recruiting committee, con-sisting of representatives of the fivechemical subdivisions (organic, inor-

ganic, biochemical, analytical andphysical) met soon after this deadlineand started making offers. Our goalthis year was to have a slightly smallerentering class than previous years, butwith a further increase in studentqualifications. In keeping with thisgoal, very few students not having ei-ther GRE scores above 1250 or GPAsabove 3.5 were accepted. In fact, theaverage GRE and GPA of the studentsfor whom we made offers this year are1285 and 3.66, respectively. It is tooearly to know the statistics of the stu-

dents that will accept our offers, butif the past is any indication, the aca-demic credentials of students enteringour program are steadily on the rise.

Once a student is accepted, heor she is invited to come visit the de-partment. We run two recruitingweekends each year. Last year wechanged the format of the visitation

weekends to include a poster sessionduring the Friday night reception.Due to the positive comments fromthe prospective students, this featureof the weekends was implementedagain this year. In short, each researchgroup is invited to present one or twoposters at the hotel, where the prospec-tive students are spending the night.This year there were about 30 posterstotal for each weekend. The sessionsstart in the early evening and typicallylast for three hours. The hotel providesmunchies, as well as beer and wine.

Not only do theprospective stu-dents get an earlyfeel for much ofthe chemistrythat is occurringin our depart-ment, but mostimportant, theposters serve to“break the ice.”The posters are centerpieces that getpeople talking, interacting, askingquestions, as well as learning somenew chemistry. Both the prospectivestudents and current students seem toenjoy the sessions. The sessions areamong the most talked-about facetsof the recruiting weekend, and nowthat they have been a success for twoyears in a row, I am sure that theyhave become a permanent part of ourrecruiting strategy.

Please note!Students take advantage of the new picnic tables in the Welch Hall courtyardduring a graduate recruitment weekend.

as we know, there are only twocontenders for the title at this time.They are Buckminsterfullerene,known familiarly as Buckyball, andTexaphyrin, an analog of porphyrin.Buckyball, of course, was firstcharacterized at a small privateschool in Houston by some chemistswho shared the 1996 Nobel Prize inChemistry for their efforts.Texaphyrin, on the other hand, is thelocal favorite for being declared thestate molecule, as it is the creativeinvention of one of our own facultymembers, Jon Sessler. One of thearguments favoring Jon’s moleculeis that it appears to have consider-

able potential for cancer therapies,with one form of it currently under-going Phase II trials in humansubjects for use as a sensitizer in

Only in Texas...this issue's contest

Prof. Jon Sessler

Minnesota has a statemushroom, Massachusetts a statedessert, Nebraska a state rock,Connecticut a state animal,South Carolina astate dance, andArizona a stateneckwear. Andwhich state is likelyto be the first to havea state molecule?We’ll give the answerto the question, butwe’ll leave it to youto provide the namesof the other “State”items, with the firstperson to provide acorrect list of statesfor all five of theitems named winninga prize.

Legislatorsthat occupy the tall building justsouth of campus are presentlydebating the weighty issue of anofficial state molecule. Insofar

radiation therapy of metastaticbrain tumors. These trials aresponsored by Pharmacyclics andmore about them is available on the

Web at the followingURL: http://www.pcyc.com.Buckyball, on theother hand, presentlyappears to have itsgreatest use as ameans for extractinggrant money fromthe Federal govern-ment. Moreover, asshown in the illus-tration, Texaphyrinencircles the famousTexas five-pointedstar much moreelegantly than doesBuckyball. Need wesay more? For those

of you in Texas, write, call, or meetwith your local legislator and urgea vote for Texaphyrin!

-- Jack Gilbert

The department experienceda major loss among its staff in Aprilwhen its most senior AdministrativeAssistant, Janis Mather, retired after29 years of devoted service. Janisstarted with The University of Texasat Austin in the Department ofEnglish in June of 1968. Shetransferred to our department inApril, 1977, where she has served asan assistant to the Chairman for 20years. She initiated sixdifferent chairmen intothe mysteries of theoffice, including BillWade, Mike White, BobWyatt, Jack Gilbert, AlanCampion, and currentchairman, Marv Hackert.In addition to acting asthe Chairman’s personalsecretary, Janis wasresponsible for gradereporting, preparation ofthe course schedule, faculty teachingload, registration supervision andclass rosters, seminar notices, travelauthorizations, and a variety ofmiscellaneous tasks too numerous tomention.

Janis’s departure leaves ahuge gap in the departmental office.Her experience and knowledge ofprocedures and practices wasunparalleled, and she definitely is atough act for her successor tofollow. Her former staff supervisor,Dotty Frasch,calls Janis “trulythe most depend-able employeeI’ve ever known.She doesn’t wantto inconvenienceanyone, and shealways carriesthrough.”

Janis’s

outward aura of “gruffness” iswidely known, but so is her generos-ity and her heart of gold. “We’vehad clothing drives and food drivesfor many years at the holidays,” saysPam Cook, a fifteen-year colleague,“and Janis is always one of the firstto show up with a full grocery bagfor the collection box.”

Kudos From Her Bosses -Each of her academic “bosses” has

his own memories of Janis’s “super-vision” of their activities duringtheir terms as chairmen. Forexample, Mike White always lookedforward to Janis’s Friday afternoonpopcorn and her gifts of Christmasbreads baked in tin cans eachholiday season. “She was wonder-fully cranky,” says White, “and shealways took great care of me.” BobWyatt remarks, “the one thing I’llmiss about Janis is her popcorn onFridays.” Bill Wade says, “I’m still

willing to giveyou [Janis] a oneway ticket to theplace of yourchoice,” and AlanCampion sharesthe followingvignette:“My veryfirst encounterwith Janis re-vealed the essence

of her character. As a brand newassistant professor I walked up tothe counter and asked for a courseschedule. Janis told me politely, butfirmly, that the only course sched-ules she had were for faculty andthat students had to buy theirs fromthe Co-Op. She has called me 'kid'ever since.” Jack Gilbert fondlyremembers his efforts to wean Janisfrom her typewriter and bring her

“kicking and scream-ing” into the computerage. It was no meantask, but Janis soongave her computer aname, “Pansy,” andnow wouldn’t give it upfor anything exceptretirement. MarvHackert adds that Janisis "a wonderful, kind-hearted person, one ofthe few people I know

who has the patience to deal withour faculty. She is sorely missed anddifficult to replace. Maybe weshould try to clone her."

Janis is not slowing downupon retirement. She plans to spendmuch of her time helping others,cooking and sewing for the needy,and doing office work for herchurch, helping elderly neighborswith errands, and spending timewith her mother. She has stacks ofbooks and magazines to read, jigsawpuzzles to work, and fabric to sew.She plans to play scrabble moreoften with Marie Smith, her long-time friend and former departmentalsecretary for the UndergraduateAdvisor. Janis is famous for herlow-fat cooking, and she has manynew recipes to try (too bad we in theChairman’s Office are no longer thebeneficiaries of those efforts!).

Administrative Assistant to retire after 29 years of dedicated serviceHonorable mention

Pam Cook and Dotty Frasch, long-timecolleagues of Janis, note that this articlebarely scratches the surface in describingJanis' devotion to the department.

Janis Mather poses with Chairmans (l to r); Bill Wade, Mike White,Alan Campion, Bob Wyatt, Jack Gilbert, and Marv Hackert.

reactions, we hope to promote aninterest in chemistry within the nextgeneration.

All of our activities arefunded through our lab notebooksales,and weappre-ciatethecoop-erationof thefacultyin thispro-gram. As usual, extra proceeds goto scholarships for chemistry majorswho are in need and/or are academi-cally exemplary.

Now that the second semes-ter of the academic year is almostover, we are proud to witness ourgoal being met: to unite chemists ofall levels, all disciplines, and allwalks of life -- past, present, andinto the future.

Student affiliate exposing students to the "world beyond"The UT branch of the

Student Affiliates of the AmericanChemical Society (ACS-SA) hasbeen pretty busy the last two semes-ters. We have continued some of thetraditions of the past, as well as re-focused some of our previousobjectives into newer and moreexciting directions.

To help aspiring chemistrymajors, the ACS-SA still providesfree tutoring twice a week. Upper-division students aid students in anylower-division chemistry class. Thisis in line with our intent tostrengthen student-student interac-tions. In addition, we allow forstudents to strengthen student-faculty interaction in our weeklymeetings. Although ACS-SA oncetried to set up an undergraduateresearch program to assist applicantsin finding a research position, it isfelt that this resulted in a loss ofinitiative on the part of the appli-cant. To solve this, we invite facultymembers to introduce their researchto us, helping the students to make

Welch Hall Safety Enhancement Project Underwaycontinued from page 1

Stephanie Johnson

more educated decisions aboutwhom to work for and what respon-sibilities to expect, all in a fun andinformal atmosphere.

It is our goal not only toexpose chemistry students to theworld within Welch Hall, but also tothe world beyond. ACS-SA mem-bers become very aware of theefforts of the Undergraduate Advis-ing Office and the Chemistry-Biochemistry Career PlacementOffice. Speakers from the chemicaland biotechnology industries, lawfirms specializing in intellectualproperty issues, and the College ofPharmacy have spoken on otherpaths chemistry graduates canfollow. We have featured meetingson how to get into graduate schooland on the pursuit of careers inacademia.

This year’s ACS-SA has notforgotten about future chemistseither. Chemistry circuses areperformed about six times a year,and are geared toward children of allages. By way of visually exciting

The procedural changes are summarized in a comprehensive Chemical Management Plan for Welch Hall.The CMP details procedures for the safe storage and handling of chemicals, places limits on the quantities ofhazardous chemicals that can be stored in the laboratories, requires the use of flammable storage cabinets for anylaboratory storing more than 10 gallons of flammables, and requires the segregation of chemicals for storage byhazard class. Appendices of the CMP include chemical inventory summary sheets for all labs, a color-keyed floorplan indicating room usage throughout the building, a list of contact persons for each lab in case of an emergency,and floor plans that indicate all services available to emergency responders to Welch Hall. Another aspect of theplan addresses safety training and documentation. All lab personnel are required to have General Lab SafetyTraining, HazCom Training, Site-specific Training, and Hands-On Fire Extinguisher Training. In addition, atleast one member from each lab is required to have Waste Management Training. The CMP we developed forWelch Hall is serving as the template for other such documents across the UT-Austin campus.

Labs throughout the building have undergone a thorough house-cleaning and the department is workingwith the University and AFD to continue to improve safety and chemical storage procedures for Welch Hall. Ifeel confident that these steps in conjunction with the West Wing renovation project will help make Welch Halla safer place for us all to work and enjoy doing chemistry in the future.

Chemists unite!

Alpha Chi Sigma is anational coed professional chemistryand chemical engineering fraternity.Its membership comprises under-graduates, graduate students, facultymembers, and professionals. Thefraternity aims to foster brotherhoodbetween those who intend to makethe study of chemistry or a relatedfield their life’s work, to advancechemistry both as a science and as aprofession, and to aid its members inachieving their professional goals.

Chapter History—The BetaTheta chapter of AXΣ at UT-Austinwas founded in 1952, but wentinactive in 1985, several years afterlosing the lease on the chapterhouse. In 1991, the chapter wasreactivated as a non-house chapterby 14 students, of whom CarlaHarper, Steve Savoy, and EricSchmidt are still active in thechapter. Since our reactivation, BΘhas grown into a strong chapter of30 active members. In recent yearsour chapter has received manyhonors, including the Three StarChapter Award (1994-1995 schoolyear), and the Alpha Chi SigmaScholar award for 1996, which wentto Eric Schmidt. Our most presti-gious award was the Best Non-House Chapter award for ouractivities from 1994-1996.

Professional Activities—This year has been full of profes-sional activities. The fall semesterbrought chemistry demonstrations(which are always tons of fun). Thechapter participated in the WallerCreek Clean-up, and helped as-semble picnic tables in the Welchcourtyard. For National Chemistry

Week, we sponsored a student/faculty brunch which included alecture entitled “The Science ofArson Investigation” by Jerry Wolf,AFD Arson Investigator. During thebrunch we also took donations thatwould sponsor elementary schoolsubscriptions to the ACS publicationWonderScience. The chapterprovided matching funds for all themoney raised.

This spring, we havecontinued the tradition of judgingscience fairs in the area. In Marchbrothers visited Ortega elementaryschool and in April we took part inthe Austin Science Fair. Productionis also underway on our secondannual Beta Theta alumni newslet-ter. The first edition, produced lastspring, was a great success, andenabled the chapter to come incontact with many alums. We evenreceived copies of documents andphotographs from the originalchapter.

The chapter has also beenworking in a new professionalactivity area—helping with thechemistry department’s prospectivegraduate student weekends. Thismay seem like an odd activity, butour chapter consists of almost fiftypercent graduate students; whobetter to transport the prospectives,lead tours, and host parties. All ourgraduate brothers have thoroughlyenjoyed this service to the depart-ment. We also prepared an informa-tion packet that was mailed tostudents who accepted the offer tocome to UT. The packet includesinformation on housing, insurance,restaurants, etc. It will be revised

and sent to the new batch of gradu-ate students this spring.

Throughout the year, as afund-raising project, the chapter hassold discounted UT Chem locks tostudents enrolled in undergraduatelaboratories. At the end of eachsemester we buy back unwantedlocks, which are then sold at thebeginning of the next semester.Anothergreatfundraisingactivity isusheringat theErwinCenter.Finally,thechaptercame up with a new AXΣ shirt.Selling shirts won’t gain us muchmoney, but it’s nice to get AXΣ’sname out there.

Social Life—Perhaps themost anticipated social event of eachsemester is the clash on the ice(better known as broomball) be-tween our chapter and the StudentAffiliate chapter of the AmericanChemical Society. Last fall we werealso able to face Alpha EpsilonDelta in an additional broomballmatch. Regular social eventsinclude card nights every otherweek, lunches with the pledges,bowling, movie nights, and muchmore. This spring, we are planningon throwing a chapter picnic—withinvitations going out to our facultymembers. The picnic will includelots of food, fun, and the first ever“Family Olympics”. Hopefully thiswill be a new Beta Theta tradition.

Jessica M. Robinson

To find out more about our chapter, contact us via e-mail at:[email protected] or visit our web page at http:/www.cm.utexas.edu/ACS.

Beta Theta Chapter of AXE continues to prosper

ReminiscencesA trip down memory lane

Dr. Robert (Bob) Perry

Here we go on a trip down “Memory Lane.” Bob Perry(Ph.D. 1952, Hatch) has provided the first of what we hope willbe an on-going series of remembrances of the life and times ofour alums during the period that they were in the department.We currently have a second such contribution, and it is sched-uled for the next issue. It, too, has been written by an organicchemist, so it’s time for those of you who majored in other areasto put pen to paper and share your memories. We look forwardto hearing from you! --Jack Gilbert

Hackerman and Chem. 801Norman Hackerman is truly

one of the greats of science at UT,and whose career speaks for itself. Icount myself fortunate to haveworked for him, not as a graduatestudent, but as a teaching fellow inChem. 801. Dr. Hackerman was/is aman whose directness, ruggedfeatures and knowledge of what hewas doing evoked great respect fromus lowly lab/quiz section instructors.

Every Saturday at 8:00 a.m.we attended a Chem. 801 meeting,during which time Hackerman ledeveryone, other 801 professorsincluded, through a review of the laband quiz section exercises for theweek following (we’d never getgraduate students, much less facultymembers, up that early on a Saturdayin this day and age). Dr. Watt, whohad just relinquished the 801 coursesupervision and co-authored the textused in 801 (Felsing and Watt,General Chemistry), was present andadded an aura of no nonsense tothose meetings.

One of the rules at that timewas that TAs were not to fraternizewith students (the rule still stands).That was a tough rule to adhere toconsidering that many of our classeshad good-looking females in them.However, we all lived an ascetic life

for fear of being kicked out. I had thegood fortune one semester of having anall-girl lab. Needless to say, it wasdifferent. There was always some weirdsituation to handle, such as the time onegirl somehow accidentally got aceticacid sprayed all over her face.

One of the most serious tasksthat we TAs had to perform, which wasdiscussed in those meetings, wasproctoring examinations. UT had veryclear, punitive policies on cheating inthose days (and still does). It wasmandated that TAs walk up and downthe aisles of the lecture halls duringexams, monitor the students like a hawkand immediately direct any transgres-sors to report to the supervising profes-sor in attendance. The episodes ofturning in students caught cheating wereunpleasant and linger in memory. Onecan only imagine the legal ramificationsof doing that job in today’s litigiousclimate (and that’s right—we have todot all the “i’s” and cross all the “t’s”when accusing a student of cheating)!

On the lighter side, some of usgrad students took time to play tennis,and Warren Meinschein (deceased; see“In Memoriam” in this issue) and I hadthe gall to challenge Norm Hackerman,an avid player himself, and John Dice, ajunior professor and younger thanHackerman, to doubles matches. As Irecall, Hackerman and Dice jovially

disparaged us, as we “youngsters”could expect to be thrashed handily byour superiors in the game. When wegot on the court, we were amazed thatHackerman was so agile and such agood player at his “mature” age, i.e.,mid-forties. Meinschein and I showedno deference to them, but neither didthe “old guys” to us, and, as I recall,we were pretty evenly matched (Normstill plays a vicious game of squashseveral times each week).

HatchLewis F. Hatch was the wit in

the department and was widely knownaround the UT campus for his humor-ous approach to teaching Chem. 601,the terminal course for non-chemistrymajors. He nonetheless was a seriousscientist, a prolific writer and a bright,articulate teacher. He was well-grounded in modern physical-organicchemistry, and his teaching andresearch reflected this fact. Duringone of the Organic seminars, one ofHatch’s students was discussing hisresearch, which included studies ofrelative rates of reaction of differentcis and trans isomers of varioussubstituted allylic chlorides. Mecha-nisms were proposed, including adiscussion of electronic configurationsand fundamental molecular processesto explain the rate phenomena. Henze,not a believer in such nonsense (“I

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have never seen an electron ...etc.”)started casting aspersions at the workand the theories. This precipitated avigorous exchange between Hatchand Henze, as the students watchedwith cautious interest. After theseminar was over, Henze would notlet go, and he and Hatch continuedthe “warm” discussion while theywalked down the hall. Somehow, thefact came out that the researchproject was supported by an AirForce grant, and Henze then immedi-ately took exception to having thatkind of research supported by thegovernment. As Hatch calmlyexplained to him, the work wasfundamental in nature. Henze thensaid loudly enough for all to hear upand down the hall, “By God I’m ataxpayer!!” Hatch didn’t miss a beat:“Thank you for your contribution toour fundamental research!!,” as hestrode away, leaving Henze fuming.

Inducing laborMy lab was behind Hatch’s office,which was located at the southwestend of the old section of the Welchbuilding. His secretary at the timeworked in the small anteroom justoutside Hatch’s office. She was amature, serious woman, who was 10months pregnant and very worriedthat she had not yet delivered. I wasrunning a LiAlH4 reaction on anallylic chloride, a novel reaction, inwhich the allylic chlorine was beingdisplaced directly by hydride. Thereaction was carried out in diethylether, and the product, a lower-boiling liquid, was being distilled, asit was formed, in a distillationcolumn with chilled condenser. Iwas watching the distillation care-fully, and after awhile I noticed thatfor no apparent reason the columnstarted flooding, a sign of excessiveheat in the stillpot. I stepped asideand turned off the pot heater and hadno sooner done so than a giganticexplosion occurred that rocked theentire west wing and was accompa-

nied by copious amounts of smoke andorganic vapors. I normally would exitthrough Hatch’s office but had to climbover the lab bench and exit through theback door through what was then PhilBailey’s office. Hatch, in his office,opened the lab door, was greeted by allthe smoke and vapors and yelled out,“Perry! Where are you?!” Not seeingme, he was worried and hurried out pastthe secretary, onto whose head a fewflakes of ceiling and dust had fallen. Shebegan crying, not knowing of my exitelsewhere and thinking that I had been

Hatch didn’t miss abeat: “Thank you foryour contribution to ourfundamental research!!,”as he strode away,leaving Henze fuming.

this in his wardrobe,” except thatthere was a typo, and “r” was missingin “shirt.” Several of us broke outlaughing in the middle of the talk, tothe shock of the professors and thespeaker. Of course, we could notdivulge the reason for our laughter,and the episode did not endear us tosome of the senior profs.

WattGeorge Watt was an impres-

sive person, distinct both in appear-ance and as a scientist/professor. Inthe years that I knew him, thesefeatures never aged or changed;bespectacled, he always wore his thin,well-greased hair in exactly the samefashion, i.e., plastered down close tohis scalp.

His confident demeanoradded to the aura of one not to betaken lightly. His graduate course inInorganic Chemistry, Chem 276, wasa make or break for graduate students.His lectures were precisely deliveredat a very rapid pace, and one eithertook notes with the speed of light ordid not survive in his course. Therewas no such thing as sitting back,listening, or casually jotting downnotes. The material was taken from avariety of sources, and the informa-tion had to be written down almostverbatim. Prepared lecture notes oroutlines for students were not invogue at UT in those days, and taperecorders, which were not yetavailable, would probably not havebeen allowed. Because of Chem 276,my handwriting was permanentlydamaged, but success in the coursesomehow made it all seem worth-while.

LochteHarry Lochte was “old

school,” who taught and practicedhard work, self-sacrifice and classicalchemistry. He had peculiar facialmannerisms such as squinting andwinking and spoke with traces of anaccent developed from his Texas

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killed. A few minutes later, the experi-ence caused her to go into labor, and shewas rushed to the hospital, where shedelivered a normal, healthy baby.Fortunately, we all survived the episodewithout injury (I wonder how muchpaperwork regarding this incident had tobe completed to satisfy the authorities;much less than would be required today,I’m sure).

Organic SeminarDuring one of the Organic

seminars, always austere and serious, asindeed they should be, all of the Organicprofessors and students were listening toa graduate student’s talk. Hatch’s groupsat together near the back on thatoccasion (the tradition of graduatestudents sitting at the back of theseminar room lives on). Someone, Idon’t know who, surreptitiously passed anewspaper clipping around the backwhile the speaker droned on. Theclipping was an ad for shirts. At the endof the ad, in large letters, was the line,“No one should be without a shirt like

Germanic background. Dr. Lochtethought that all graduate studentsshould use rubber stoppers or corksinstead of ground-glass joints inflasks and that hole boring, eventhroughout one’s career, was goodtraining. “De trouble with studentstoday is dat dey don’t vant to do anywork,” he told me while squintingand winking as he was trying to getme to sign up with him as myresearch advisor (Lochte’s words echothrough our halls to this day). Hewas dead-serious, but it was very hardfor me to keep a straight face.

HenzeHenry Rudolph Henze

(HRH, sometimes referred to bygraduate students as His RoyalHighness) was a knowledgeable,classical organic chemistry professor,whose research problems andteaching methods strictly reflectedthis style and background. He was anegotistical person, to say the least.He was somewhat short in stature,extremely erect in bearing, and thistogether with his booming voice andmanner of speaking were testimoniesto his high regard for his presumablyPrussian ancestry. He delighted inintimidating those who were inweaker positions than he, such asundergraduate students, otherprofessors’ graduate students andeven junior professors. In spite of Dr.Henze’s self-styled aura of perfection


and pride in his precision in speech, heoften asked convoluted or ambiguousquestions and had an antipathy towardmodern electronic concepts andphysical organic chemistry.

One of Henze’s students wasgiving the required seminar before agroup of his peers, a critical bunch, tosay the least. During that presentation,the student proposed a superficialmechanism for some new reaction thathad recently been reported in theliterature. The mechanism was immedi-ately suspect, and another grad studentspoke up and told the speaker, “But it iswell known that that reaction is notfavored thermodynamically and doesnot occur, so your mechanism is notcorrect.” Henze, seeing that his studentwas under attack, started attacking thequestioner (another professor’s student).Henze said, “Well suppose that reactiondoes occur, what would you expect toget?” The questioning student, lookingsomewhat incredulous, said calmly,“But that reaction does not occur.”Henze pressed harder, “But supposing itdid, then what?” The student, standinghis ground replied, “But it doesn’t.”Henze started off on a tangent, but soonrealized that he was defending anindefensible position, so the matter wassoon dropped. The seminar continued,somewhat to the dismay of othergraduate students.

I remember the time that I was

meeting with Dr. Henze during theprocess of selecting a researchadvisor. I had already learned fromother grad students what to expect.One thing that Henze always regardedin himself was that he was one of theworld’s greatest experts in Grignardchemistry, and perhaps he was. Thus,when we were asked what the mostimportant reaction in organic chemis-try was, we knew to say the Grignardreaction, which I did when theinevitable question arose. It was afriendly session, and as he questionedme, I did the recommended thing andwaited a moment to answer, as Henzewould often enjoy answering his ownquestions. Knowing Henze’s reputa-tion for skewering people for notbeing precise in speech and answers,when Henze asked me out of the bluehow alcohol was made in this country,I unfortunately responded too quicklyand asked him which alcohol did hemean? Ethyl alcohol, or alcoholsgenerally? He blew up and loudlystated “Alcohol! Ethyl alcohol, ofcourse! I speak correctly. When I sayalcohol, I mean alcohol.” So muchfor precise speech!

Giving back to the departmentEditor’s Note: H. David Medley, (Ph.D. 1952, Henze) is among a number of long-time financial contributors to our department.I asked Dave to provide a brief statement as to why he and his wife, Rosemary, have made such a commitment to us.Here’s what he had to say.

Rosemary and I love The University of Texas at Austin. Our blood runs burntorange. We spent nearly four rewarding years at The University as I pursued agraduate degree in Organic Chemistry under Professor H. R. Henze. The De-partment of Chemistry and Biochemistry furnished me my “Union Card” toenter the industrial world of chemistry. Although I started in the research de-partment of the former Celanese Corporation, I spent much of my professionalcareer in marketing and general administration, attaining the level of presidentin the Celanese International Marketing Company. The Department of Chem-

Rosemary and David Medleycontinued on page 11

-- H. David Medley

istry and Biochemistry provided me with the fundamentals to be successful in the business world. Words do not exist toexpress my sincere appreciation to the Department for the total knowledge base that was afforded me.

We do not feel that we could ever totally repay The University for what it provided us. We do believe that a yearlycontribution to the Chairman’s discretionary fund is a small way to show our thanks and appreciation. Many peopleprobably do not know that the Legislature now only furnishes about 25 percent of the funds required to operate TheUniversity. I encourage all of you alumni to seriously consider a monetary support of the Department of Chemistry andBiochemistry as partial repayment for the many advantages it has afforded us.

Giving back to the departmentcontinued from page 10

Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry

John ArmstrongChristopher BinfieldJason Joseph BoscoDaniel Madison ByrdMichael Li-Hsin HuangMichelle HaasRoshani Gajendra Patel

Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry

Joanne Lee Hinojosa

Bachelor Science in Chemistry

Douglas Phillip HansonJohn Paul LapierreCarlos Benito LauAlexander MuellerPeter Anthony OpielaStephanie Tamiko EndoMary Katherine MonahanLeslie Kay SullivanTiffany Renee Turner

Spring 1997 Degree Candidates

Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry

Bradford BarkerKelly BennettJason Morris BoleyJohn CuddebackAaron Edward FelixVimal Thomas GeorgeChang Yun HanBrandon E. HarperJohn Patrick HaschkeJames HavemannLinda Karen HoangJohn Che-Han HsuDiana Dawn KovalTina Chowping KwanDeana LarkinThomas James LopezKaren Y. NiYinka Adenike OlowolafeShephali PatelKanthi Shenoy

Victor Lee ShermanSamuel J.VelezHenri Arthur Woods


Christopher BennettAnu BhallaNathan Scott BryanZhui ChenVineet ChoudhryGrace Si Yan ChoyChristina FarmerRaymond HawkinsMichael HungYingHorng LiuChristina Ann MortonAjith P. NairLorraine PelosofBradden Rex PyronJackson SuMiki SusantoDat Ty TranEugenia TsueiMara Vorachek

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

Cynthia Anna BazalduaKathryn BellesArturo Dela Garza Jr.Amy Lynn GruetzmacherDinh Thuy LeThomasina MunozFelipe Fausto OchoaEduardo RamirezJeffrey StringerLorraine SuttonHoward VogelSandra Renee WhaleyBrandon Williams


Lopamudra BanerjeePui Yee HungJeffrey Karl LeitkoYue MaKarl George PankratzAdriana Vasquez

Summer 1996 Degree Candidates


Ajit DwivediAnnemarie BrownTi-Lun Josephine ChanMelony Shannan O'NeillChristine Robin Wozniak


Adam HabermanDaniel HirschhornAshley Elaine CoffmanKimberly Ann Spytek


Shannon Lynn ShaddockBryan Dwayne SnoddyAaron Wai-Ho Woo

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

Robert John SutherlandHean Chin WongLeslie Marie MartinezDanielle Marie NesvacilShenethia Delois Taylor

Fall 1996 Degree Candidates


Dong-Soon ChoiShaher KhanMarcel Nader MoayerEugene NeePradipkumar PatelJohnnie Randolph Jr.Anita Jar-Yu ChinMaria Victoria ContiLinda Ellen Marenus

1996 - 1997 Chemistry and Biochemistry Degree Candidates

ALUM RETORTS

1934E. O. Box, Jr., B.A. Chemistry, M.S. (Chemical Engineering) Oklahoma State ~ retired as Sr. Research Chemist, Phillips Petroleum, in1980. Holds 42 US and foreign patents in refining processes. Served 5 years in U.S. Navy during WWII and remained in activereserve, retired as Captain after 30 years.1950Leland L. Smith, Ph.D. (Henze) ~ Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, retiredAugust 1996 after 32 years of service and moved back to Austin.1955Herbert D. Weiss, Ph.D. (Hatch) ~ retired from CEO position, moved to Houston and is involved in graduate internship program atRice University, Natural Science Department.1958Leon “Lee” Rand, M.A. 1956, Ph.D. (Gardner) ~ is Chancellor Emeritus, Indiana University Southeast, and works as SpecialAssistant to the Chancellor, Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis.1962Claiborn L. “Dick” Osborn, Ph.D. (Gardner), B.A. (Chemistry) 1955 ~ reports his new life as an artisan goes well. He and his wifehave been invited to exhibit at the Southern Legislators Conference this summer.1965Henry Drew “Nick” DeBerry, III, B.A. Chemistry, LLB 1968 ~ reports although “I slipped my traces and became a lawyer,” heremains a science groupie. He has practiced law for 24 years and is a partner in the firm of Baker & Botts, L.L.P. in Dallas.Billy D. Head, B.S. Chemistry ~ retired December 31, 1996, after working 32 years at The Dow Chemical Company in Freeport, TX.His last two assignments were as Laboratory Director of Dow’s North American Polyethylene Research De- partment and as GlobalTechnical Director of Licensing for Polyethylene Technology. During his time as Laboratory Director, Dow developed the revolution-ary single site organometallic catalysts for the production of Insite* Technology polyethylene.1970Michael J. Collins, Ph.D. (Boggs) ~ works for CEM Corporation in North Carolina.Douglas S. Dierdorf, B.S. Chemistry, Ph.D. University of Washington, Seattle ~ is Director of Research and Development at PacificScientific, HTL-KinTech Division. Research interest centers on the replacement of Halon 1301 in aircraft and military vehicle fireextinguishing systems.James M. Watson, Ph.D. (Roberts), B.S. Chemistry (1965) ~ reports he is still in the carbon black business as Sr. V.P. of Technology atColumbian Chemicals.1971Lydia Ann Melcher Frenzel, Ph.D. (Lagowski), B.S. Chemistry (1966) ~ received the Steel Structures Painting Council 1996Technical Achievement Award. In the past, she has held positions in education, research, and corporate business. Her contributionsinclude working with emerging technologies, pioneering the discipline of surface preparation using waterjetting, and bringing severalviewpoints together to develop a common language for describing problems.1975William Shelton Clark, Ph.D. (Hackerman) ~ is working at the Finnigan Corporation in Austin.Tatao Luo, Ph.D., M.A. (Gilbert) ~ is General Manager, International Business Development, Chevron Chemical Company, sinceMarch 1996.1976James E. Hardy, Ph.D. (Gardiner) ~ working at Westinghouse Electric Company in Pennsylvania.1979Louis W. Elrod, Ph.D. (Roberts) ~ expresses the sentiment that Royston Roberts was an excellent mentor and teacher, “a man that Irespected and admired.”1981Kay Colapret, M.A. (Fox) ~ was promoted to Senior Project Chemist at Texaco.1983Mark Thomas Bauer, B.A. Chemistry ~ reports he is working for Mentor Polymer Technologies, a silicone rubber manufacturer inDallas.William “Pat” Follett, B.S. Chemistry ~ is QA/QC Lab Supervisor at Occidental Chemical Corporation in Deer Park, TX. He hasheld this position since 1993 at the Occidental plant which manufactures chlorine and sodium hydroxide.1985C. Ian Pearce, B.S. Chemistry ~ is teaching Marine Science and Biology at Stephen F. Austin High School, Austin, as well as workingas a consultant with SACHEM. He is married with two daughters.

1987Mitchell J. Wilson, B.A. Biochemistry; M.D. University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 1993 ~ received Chauncey and ElizabethLeake Essay Award in the Humanities and Medicine, 1990; achieved Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, 1996, UTMB Galveston;has full-time clinical practice at the UTMB Urgent Care Extended Hours Clinic.1988Alexander Bowman Boffa, B.S. Chemistry, Ph.D. (Chemistry) University of California, Berkeley, 1994 ~ is working as a researchchemist for Exxon PARAMINS in the Formulations Science Division. Married to Lisa Saunders Boffa (see 1991).1990James D. Batteas, B.S. Chemistry, Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley ~ currently an Assistant Professor of Chemistryat The City University of New York where his research concerns the surface chemistry and tribology of polymer and biopolymermaterials using atomic force microscopy.1991Lisa Saunders Boffa, B.S. Chemistry, Ph.D. (Chemistry) University of California, Berkeley, 1996 ~ graduated with a Ph.D. in syntheticpolymer chemistry. She reports the first three years were as an NSF Predoctoral Fellow, and the last two years were spent with Prof.Bruce Novak in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is beginningwork in an organometallics R&D group at Air Products. Married to Alex Boffa (see 1988).1993Kyoung-Hee Oh, Ph.D. (Wade) ~ is working for the National Institute of Environmental Research in Korea and reports she misses lifein Austin.Harry Chang-Chieh Wang, B.A. Biochemistry ~ is a doctoral candidate in chemistry at the University of Houston, University Park.Received a Welch Fellowship Award and R. B. Seymour Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (1995-96).1994Melissa Jeanine Hubbard, B.S. Chemistry ~ is a second-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch, pioneeringan innovative problem-based learning approach to medicine. She states, “I’d just like to thank the University for the excellent trainingI received. Thanks to all the instructors who helped to pave my future.”Claire L. Maspero Palitza, B.S. Chemistry, B.A. Geography (1991) ~ is working at the Office of Environmental Health and Safety,UT-Austin, and is responsible for managing the disposal of all the chemical waste that the university generates.R. Jason Scharff, B.S. Chemistry ~ is currently a Ph.D. student at the Pittsburgh working in the laboratory of Prof. John T. Yates, Jr.Richard E. Thomas, M.A. (Iverson) ~ was selected for promotion to rank of Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy.1995Michelle McElroy McCalmont, M.A. (Kitto) ~ reports she is taking time off from her work in R&D in biochemistry to spend with hernew baby girl.Mark R. Tesauro, Ph.D. (Campion) ~ accepted a promotion with SGS-Thompson Microelectronics, Advanced Technology Develop-ment Group.1996Elaine S. Brigham, Ph.D. (Mallouk/McDevitt) ~ is working as a Senior Chemist in the Solvents and Intermediates Department atUnion Carbide.

ALUM RETORTS

IN MEMORIAM

Paul Harris, Ph.D. (Jones) 1991, died of cancer February 14, 1997. He is survived by his wife, Marie Mahoney, and dauthter, Nora.

Oneita Christopher Medley, M.A. Chemistry 1921, is deceased, date unknown.

Warren G. Meinschein, Ph.D. (Lochte) 1951, died February 7, 1997, at the age of 76. Dr. Meinschein is survived by his wife, MaryElizabeth Williams Meinschein; daughter, Sherra E. Kerns; sons, Warren G. Meinschein, Jr. and Tim A. Meinschein; six grandchildren;and two great-grandchildren.

Eva Sabrina Simmons, M.A. 1992, Ph.D. (Wyatt) 1995, died in October 1996.

Frank J. Spuhler, M.S. Engineering 1935, Ph.D. Chemistry 1938, died March 2, 1997 at the age of 83, according to the Austin Ameri-can-Statesman. He is survived by a son, Michael W. Spuhler.

Carl Darwin Wallrath, B.S. Chemistry 1958, died January 6, 1997, according to the Houston Chronicle. He is survived by his wife,Nancy Walker Wallrath.

Ziegler retiresProfessor Dan Ziegler will

retire from teaching at UT-Austin atthe end of this academic year. DanielM. Ziegler was born on a farm inQuinter, Kansas, on July 6, 1927. Heattended St. Benedict’s College inAtchison, Kansas, receiving his B.S.degree in Chemistry in 1949. Upongraduation he obtained a Master’sdegree in Biochemistry from the In-stitute of St. Thomas in Cincinnati.Dan entered Loyola Universityin Chicago in 1952 where heworked with Dr. JacklynMelchior on the in vitro synthe-sis of protein hormones by sub-cellular fractions of pituitarytissue, receiving his Ph.D. inChemistry (Biochemistry) in1955. From 1955-57 he was apostdoctoral trainee of the Na-tional Heart Institute at the In-stitute for Enzyme Research atthe University of Wisconsin atMadison, where he was ap-pointed Assistant Professorfrom 1958-1961.

Dan Ziegler has had along and distinguished careersince arriving at the Universityof Texas at Austin in 1961. Hewas promoted to Associate Pro-fessor in 1962, Professor in 1969, andnamed the Roger J. Williams Centen-nial Professor of Biochemistry in1990. He was an Established Investi-gator of the American Heart Associa-tion from 1960-65, held a USPHSCareer Development Award from1965-75, and was a Humboldt SeniorResearch Awardee in 1991 and 1995.He is widely recognized for his con-tributions to the metabolism andbiotransformation of xenobiotics. In1990, Dr. Ziegler won the Bernard B.Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism

from the American Society for Phar-macology and Experimental Thera-peutics for his discovery and outstand-ing fundamental research on the fla-vin-containing monooxygenases(FMO). In the fall of the same year,the meeting and published proceed-ings of the Fifth International Sym-posium on the N-Oxidation of Drugsheld in Munich were dedicated to Danfor his many contributions to that

field. In October of 1996, a Sympo-sium preceding the International So-ciety for the Study of Xenobiotics(ISSX) at San Diego was held to honorDr. Ziegler’s career contributions to afield his work essentially established.Following the Symposium Dan waspresented with a collage portrait (byPeruchini, see above) commissionedby organizers of the Symposium.Later in the week, the ISSX presentedDan with the highest honor the Soci-ety can confer on one of its members— Honorary Life Membership. Dr.

Ziegler was only the fifth recipientof this award in the history of the So-ciety.

Dr. Ziegler has publishedover 100 research articles and servedon numerous editorial and advisoryboards. In addition to his teachingand research record, ProfessorZiegler has served as biochemistrydivision coordinator, Associate Di-rector of the Biochemical Institute,

undergraduate adviser, and onseveral other committees forthe Department of Chemistryand Biochemistry. Dan has al-ways been an excellent facultycolleague, quiet and modestabout his own accomplish-ments, an excellent researcherand helpful in every way(teaching, experimental col-laboration, service to the de-partment and the community).

Dan married MaryAlice in August of 1952. Theyhave four children and fivegrandchildren. Although retir-ing from teaching, Dan plans toremain active in research,spending more time writing andtraveling. He also is looking

forward to having more time for hisgrandchildren, gardening, choir, andvarious charity and service organiza-tions.

-- Marv Hackert

In honor of ProfessorZiegler’s many years of contributionsto the department, an endowment isbeing established in his honor. Thosewishing to contribute to this endow-ment can send their contributions tothe Department of Chemistry andBiochemisty, referencing the "ZieglerEndowment.”

We have had the pleasure of awarding a variety of fellowships and awards overthe past academic year. The awards cover two important areas of student accomplish-ments: excellence in teaching and excellence in research and academic achievements.With the growing emphasis on improving the quality of undergraduate education, weare especially delighted to recognize our top teaching assistants in the department fortheir superior performance in the classroom, through awards that include the HenzeAwards, the Welch Teaching Awards, and the Faraday Award.

The students who earn such honors have proven outstanding in teaching, anarea that is often overlooked because of the tremendous emphasis on scientific achieve-ment in the graduate program. However, many undergraduates have indicated that someof their most memorable experiences occurred in their laboratory classes, and we shouldgive full credit to the tireless and enthusiastic teaching assistants who make the educa-tional journey through a large university a little more personal.

Other awards emphasize academic performance and research accomplishments in the graduate program. Manyof the students who earn these awards will venture on to become top scientists in industry or successful faculty atcolleges and universities, and we hope to provide a little recognition during the early stages of their graduate years.One of the most satisfying roles of the Graduate Office is the selection of graduate students for awards, and it is alwaysuplifting to survey the number of outstanding applicants for each one.

We also wish to introduce Penny Kile; Penny joined the Graduate Office staff in the summer of 1996 and hasproven to be an energetic new addition. Penny and Barbara McKnight form an unbeatable team.

Worthy recognition

1996-97 Graduate Awards and Fellowships

Texaco FellowshipDavid Medeiros (Willson)Jeff Fieberg (White)

Exxon Education FundTheodore CureyJames Davidson

Leon O. Morgan FellowshipRosario Fico

Royston M. Roberts FellowshipAlice Lambert

Stanley H. and Kathleen F. SimonsenFellowship

Michael GostkowskiWelch Fellowships

James DavidsonMichael GostkowskiMaksim KhrapovAlice LambertCourtney LopreoreMegan MerlockMichelle ReyzerJeremy ThompsonKim Fay Wong

Faraday Teaching Excellence AwardElizabeth Stevenson (Laude)

Hoechst Celanese AcademicExcellence Award

Paul Hergenrother (Martin)Patanjali Kambhampati (Campion)

Welch Award for Academic ExcellenceKai Hu (Bard)Jason Ritchie (McDevitt)

Henze Teaching Excellence AwardGreg Blakney (Laude)Angie Loving (Bauld)Jackie Naffin (Kodadek)

Welch Teaching Excellence AwardMary Satterfield (Lagowski)Kristen Smith (White)Cyndi Wells (McDevitt)

Welch Departmental Service AwardNick Tran (Lagowski)

Charles Morton Share TrustAndrea Wells (McDevitt)

Joanne M. Ravel Endowed FellowshipAlexander Taylor (Hackert)

Eakin Centennial FellowshipAnne TibbettsThomas Hollis

University Continuing FellowshipAnne TibbettsPaul HergenrotherPatanjali Kambhampati

University Doctoral Dissertation AwardEdward Marcotte

University Continuing Bruton FellowshipKai Hu

University Continuing Tuition andFees Fellowship

Jason Ritchie

Travel scholarships provided by:J. E. Mahler Endowment FundClay B. Fredrich-Rohm & HaasEndowment for Seminar SpeakersGraduate Student Travel

Prof. Jennifer BrodbeltGraduate Advisor

Professor Shive inducted into Hall of Honor

William Shive, ProfessorEmeritus, was inducted into the Hallof Honor of the College of NaturalSciences this spring in recognitionof his many contributions to UT-Austin. Bill entered graduate schoolat UT-Austin in 1937 after receivinga B.A. degree from East Texas StateCollege. Because his alma mater isnow part of the A&M system herepresents an Aggie in our midst!He received an M.A. degree inChemistry in 1939 and a Ph.D.degree in 1941, majoring in organicchemistry under the direction ofProf. H. L. Lochte. With hisdegree in hand, Bill marriedGwyn White and immediatelytransported his new Texas brideto Urbana, Illinois, where hewas a Research Associate andInstructor in organic chemistryat the University of Illinois atUrbana for a year. He andGwyn then headed back southwhen Bill became an AssistantProfessor of Chemistry atTulane University for two years.But the Shive’s roots in Texaswere deep, so they returned toAustin in 1944, with Billbecoming a Research Scientistin the Biochemical Institute.The next year he was alsoappointed Assistant Professor ofChemistry and was promoted to therank of Professor in 1950. Heserved as Chair of the Departmentfrom 1961 to 1970 and was namedthe first Roger J. Williams Centen-nial Professor in Biochemistry in1985. Although Bill relinquishedhis teaching duties in 1987, he stillmaintains a significant researchprogram after 53 years at UT-Austin.

Bill enjoys a national and

international reputation for hiscontributions to our understandingof intermediary metabolism andnutrition. In 1950 he received theAmerican Chemical Society’s EliLilly Award in Biological Chemis-try. He was a member of the Nutri-tion Study Section, National Insti-tutes of Health, 1969-73, and itsChairman in 1972-73. He served onPresident Gerald Ford’s BiomedicalResearch Panel and was Chairmanof its Interdisciplinary Cluster onNutrition, 1975-76. He wasLiaison Officer for the U.T. System

to the Robert A. Welch Foundationfrom 1970-1986. In 1983 he waspresented the first Roger J. WilliamsAward in Preventive Nutrition forhis “scientific contributions to ourunderstanding of intermediarymetabolism, particularly the meta-bolic roles of vitamins, and thedevelopment of a method for theassessment of nutritional status ofindividuals.”

Bill Shive is highly re-garded as a teacher and research

mentor. One of his former graduatestudents commented that “Dr. Shivewas an excellent research mentor, aman who is patient, yet demandingof personal excellence.” A facultymember who was formerly agraduate student in biochemistrycommented that Bill Shive “broughtvery high standards both to theclassroom and to the researchlaboratory. He was always support-ive of students, and guided many tosuccessful professional careers. Heconveyed to students the importanceof combining creativity with a sound

command of information andexperimental observation.”

As if these contributionsto the teaching, research, andservice responsibilities of anacademician were not enough,Bill and Gwyn and the ShiveFoundation have made generousmonetary commitments to UT-Austin, enabling the establish-ment of the Roger J. WilliamsCentennial Professorship inBiochemistry, the William ShiveCentennial Professorship inBiochemistry, and the ClaytonFoundation Biochemical Insti-tute Regents Lectureship,among others. They have also“contributed” their two daugh-

ters, Kathy and Karen, to a continu-ation of the family tradition ofexcellence in academic science, asboth of them are eminent biochem-ists in their own right.

Bill Shive joins severalothers with connections to ourdepartment who have been inductedpreviously into the Hall of Honor.They are Norman Hackerman, VirgilWaggoner, Don Carlton, DavidMedley and Lorraine (Casey)Stengl.

Dean Rankin presents Hall of Honor awardto William Shive.

-- Lester Reed

Departmental Seminar ProgramOur teaching and research program benefited this year from scientific presentations by individuals whoseresearch interests cover a broad spectrum. The speakers have come from a wide varieties of “homes,” includ-ing academia, industry, and research institutes. Although the list that follows categorizes the speakers on thebasis of the traditional divisions within the department, a significant number of them discussed topics thatbridge the usual divisional boundaries, a fact that reflects our continuing efforts to foster interdisciplinaryinteractions among our faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students.

Analytical/Physical

Prof. Dave AllaraPennsylvania State UniversityProf. Allen BardThe University of Texas at AustinDr. Gary Van BerkelOak Ridge National LaboratoryProf. Jennifer BrodbeltThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Manfred FinkThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Ingrid FritschUniversity of ArkansasProf. Martin GruebeleUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignProf. Adam HellerThe University of Texas at AustinProf. James HolcombeThe University of Texas at AustinDr. Barbara S. LarsenDuPont Company, Science and EngineeringLabsProf. David LaudeThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Carlos ManzanaresBaylor UniversityProf. John T. McDevittThe University of Texas at AustinProf. James E. McGrathEthyl Chair Professor of Chemistry andDirector NSF Science andTechnology CenterVirginia Polytechnic Institute and StateUniversityDr. Mehdi MoiniThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Peter PulayUniversity of ArkansasProf. James W. RogersUniversity of WashingtonProf. Dan SchwartzTulane UniversityProf. Curtis ShannonAuburn University

Prof. Jason ShearThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Solomon S. StavrovTel-Aviv UniversityProf. Richard StrattBrown University

Biochemistry

Prof. Dean ApplingThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Joseph BonaventuraDuke University Medical CenterProf. Cynthia J. BurrowsUniversity of UtahDr. Boon ChockNational Institutes of HealthProf. Bernd ClementUniversity of KielProf. Timothy A. GarrowUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignProf. John GerltUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignProf. Barbara GoldenUniversity of Colorado at BoulderProf. Jim HaberBrandeis UniversityProf. Thomas KodadekThe University of Texas at AustinProf. Craig PetersonUniversity of Massachusetts Medical CenterProf. Ronald T. RainesUniversity of WisconsinProf. Charles C. RichardsonHarvard Medical SchoolProf. James C. SacchettiniAlbert Einstein College of MedicineProf. Stephen SprangThe University of Texas SouthwesternMedical Center-DallasDr. Earl StadtmanNational Institutes of HealthProf. Dean TolanBoston UniversityDr. Ernest VillafrancaAgouron Institute, California

Inorganic

Prof. Chris ChidseyStanford UniversityProf. Geoffrey CoatesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyProf. Peter EdwardsUniversity of WalesProf. David GlueckDartmouth CollegeProf. Richard KanerUniversity of California at Los AngelesProf. Jon McClevertyUniversity of BristolProf. Michael NatanPennsylvania State UniversityProf. Martin SchroderUniversity of NottinghamProf. Pericles StavropoulosBoston UniversityProf. John VaugheyIowa State UniversityProf. Peter WolczanskiCornell University

Organic

Prof. John ArnoldUniversity of California, BerkeleyProf. Cynthia J. BurrowsUniversity of UtahProf. Erick CarrieraCalifornia Institute of TechnologyProf. Richard DanheiserMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyProf. Luis EchegoyenUniversity of MiamiProf. Jonathan EllmannUniversity of California, BerkeleyProf. Daniel A. HershlagStanford UniversityDr. Dale KempfAbbott LaboratoriesProf. Eiichi KimuraHiroshima University

Centennial Visiting Lectureship inChemistryProf. William Carl LinebergerUniversity of Colorado, Boulder

The Clayton Foundation BiochemicalInstitute Regents LectureshipProf. Paul BergStanford University Medical Center

Organic Division Distinguished AlumniLecture SeriesDr. Brent BlackburnGenentech CorporationDr. Darren MagdaPharmacyclics

John E. Mahler Memorial LectureshipProf. Jon ClardyCornell University

The F.A. Matsen Endowed RegentsLectureship on the Theories of MatterProf. James HartleUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

The W. Albert Noyes, Jr. LectureshipProf. Paul BarbaraUniversity of Minnesota

Rowland Pettit Centennial VisitingProfessorshipProf. Barry M. TrostStanford University

Vista Chemical Company-RegentsEndowed Memorial Lectureshipin Organic ChemistryProf. Horst KesslerTechnische Universitat Munchen

The George and Pauline Watt CentennialLectureshipProf. Paul ChuUniversity of Houston

The 1996-1997 Welch FoundationLectureship ProgramProf. Joseph P. KennedyUniversity of Akron

Prof. Spencer KnappRutgers UniversityProf. W. E. MoernerDistinguished Chair in Physical ChemistryUniversity of California, San DiegoProf. Gary MolanderUniversity of Colorado at BoulderDr. Eric J. MooreAmoco Chemical CompanyProf. Albert PadwaEmory UniversityProf. Virgil PercecCase Western Reserve UniversityProf. Timothy SwagerMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyProfessor Peter Von HippleThe University of OregonProf. David M. WalbaUniversity of Colorado at BoulderProf. Michael WasielewskiNorthwestern UniversityProf. John WoodYale UniversityProf. Frederick E. ZieglerYale University

Departmental Seminar Program

Prof. David Laude

It has been an exciting year for the Undergraduate Advising Center in Welch Hall. The staff of ChrisJohnson, Christina Perkins, Dave Laude and two work study students, Hwen Chiu and Sophia Sherline, haveworked hard to create the best possible environment for advising over 700 chemistry and biochemistry majors.

On a curriculum front, the restriction on foreign languages has been lifted to allow more freedom to thestudents; this is especially popular given the increasing diversity of cultures in Texas. Selecting undergraduateresearch options is also more popular than ever, with students seeing research experience asa great way to answer questions about career options and even to get to know faculty betterwhen that extra letter of recommendation is needed.

The advising center has also started to serve as a clearing house for service activitiesby undergraduates. Numerous science fairs, tours and chemistry circuses are now scheduledout of the office. These experiences are unfailingly popular with students looking for abreath of fresh air from the grinds of classes and exams.

A successful scholarship program for undergraduate majors continued this year withapproximately $50,000 distributed to 103 students in both merit-and need-based competi-tions. A list of this year’s undergraduate scholarship winners is found on page 19. Needlessto say we are very proud of these fine students and appreciative of the benefactors of thescholarship money.

Finally, we are sorry to report that Dave Laude will be leaving the advising center in his role as Under-graduate Faculty Advisor. He will be taking the position of Associate Dean for Education for the College effectiveJune 1, replacing the departing Michael Starbird. However, as Dean he oversees all College Advising Centers sohe’ll still be around to help out Chris and Christina whether they want it or not.


Faculty advisor to assume role as Associate Dean for EducationUndergraduate advising center rolls along

1996 - 1997 Undergraduate Awards and Scholarships

ACS Student Academic AchievementMiki Susanto Roman StarikovChi Kin Chen Kwoon Wong

ACS Central Texas Section Outstanding Senior AwardJeffrey Leitko

Dow Chemical USA Centennial Endowed Presidential ScholarshipNathan Clark Grace Choy

Norman Hackerman Endowed Presidential ScholarshipTim Marquart

Burl Gordon Rogers Endowed Presidential ScholarshipJeff Leitko

Hoechst Celanese Academic Excellence AwardSharon L. Mauldin

BASF Endowed ScholarshipHiral Shah

Chemistry Faculty-Regents Scholarship FundAnita Chin

Dow Chemistry Alumni Centennial Endowed ScholarshipBradford Barker

Dow Chemical Company FoundationKelly Bennett

Dupont Enrichment ProgramAngeline Griesgraber-Johnson Paul ChenTrieu Ho Lisa SnyderLinda Hoang Katherine BradenJae H. Kim Bena EllickalputhenpuraJennifer Lara Tasneem AhmedYue Ma Sapna PatelSharon Mauldin Loretta StubbsAngela Moore Juanita SanchezKwoon Wong Versha Yadav

Exxon Education FundChristina Farmer

Friends of Chemistry-Regents ScholarshipTina Kwan

Hoechst Celanese CorporationBrian Barnes Jessica HernandezLeslie Sullivan Vicki CarrArturo Dela Garza Miki SusantoPedro Escamillo Brett MastersonKarl Pankratz Jason Vogel

H. L. Lochte ScholarshipChrisanne Botello Jason HarveyAndre P. Yassa

Pirrung Scholarship AwardLorraine Pelosof

Shell Oil Company FoundationChris Binfield Jennifer RichieNicole Garza David SudradjadDeborah Holland Nitin WadhwaKate Louis Christina MartinezKevin Reyes Summer WestonPaul Riojas James KimTiffany Turner Kevin ReyesJeffrey Young Chrisanne BotelloChi Kin Chen Jose G. ArellanoNaomi Silva Loretta StubbsPrateek Chaudhary Aashish Parikh

Marie Smith Endowed ScholarshipChristina Morton Shreya ParikhDiana Simmons Peter Morrelli

Louis Weisberg Memorial Chemistry ScholarshipTin Sheng Chen Stephen HammondToni Chu Jason LinOwen Bishop Andrew McCall

BASF CorporationJose Arellano Jennifer SchmitzKimberly Atkins Brian ScottOwen Bishop Ritu SinghThomas Chang Jeffrey StringerPrateek Chaudhary Abraham ThomasDennis Coffman David WestKatherine Day Cheng Shuai FengJennifer Dunlap Kelvin NguyenStephen Hammond Eunme ChoTrieu Ho Awet HaileDinh Le Yinghorng LiuYue Ma Medhavi JogiShephali Patel Qian ChiLex Ramsey Andrew Tigelaar

The Department of Chemistry and BiochemistryThe University of Texas at AustinAustin, Texas 78712-5300

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Who are we? contest; The first correct entry—in fact the first entry—was received from C. Edward “Ed” Keller, B.S.Chemistry 1962, Ph.D. (Pettit) 1966. Several other correct entries were received, but Dr. Keller’s got here first. Thanks toeveryone who took the time and effort to send in entries. Ed has been awarded this year’s version of the Alpha Chi SigmaT-shirt.

Correct identities:Front Row (l to r): Lewis F. Hatch, Harry Louis Lochte, Norman Hackerman, Gilbert Haven Ayres, Roger John Williams,Henry Rudolf Henze.Second Row (l to r): Philip S. Bailey, Charles Gordon Skinner, Richard Fuchs, Carl E. Wulfman, Lester J. Reed, James E.Boggs, Richard K. McMullan, Leon O. Morgan, Stanley Harold Simonsen.Third Row (l to r): Robert E. Eakin, William Shive, Frederick Albert Matsen, Edwin Myers Lansford, Jr., Charles KennethMann, Jesse Stone Binford, Jr., Royston M. Roberts, William Harry Robert Shaw, Pete D. Gardner.

The Department of Chemistry and BiochemistryThe University of Texas at AustinAustin, Texas 78712-5300

Address Correction Requested

Non Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #391Austin, Texas

Documents

spring 1997 CHEMICAL Compositions chemistry & biochemistry