Anyone who ventured outside the Chemistry building in March/April discovered one of the coldest and wettest Portland springs on record. A much better idea was to stay inside and check out the chemistry stories in the Reed Magazine’s spring issue …
Two feature articles reported on alumni experiences in chemistry. The Marketplace of Ideas (p. 19) reported on book merchant Bill Nelson ’62, a long-time fixture on the SU porch. Listed among the profs who inspired Bill were two chemistry faculty, Michael Litt [chemistry 1958-66] and Marsh Cronyn ’42 [chemistry 1952-89]. … Road Warrior (p. 21) zeroed in on author Vanessa Veselka ’10. A very non-traditional student (if you just think “first year at Reed, 36, mother”, you won’t even have scratched the surface), Vanessa signed up for chemistry and calculus her first year at Reed. Like many a Reedie before her, she discovered that her first impulse was not necessarily her true calling and she switched her major to English. Eventually, this path in letters led to a terrific new novel, Zazen.
The Class Notes section informed us that Melissa Melby ’92 has returned to the U.S. and is a medical anthropologist at the University of Delaware. … Philip Wilk ’95 married Sarah Nelson in October 2011 in Maryland. … We were also referred to an Oregonian article about Luke Kanies ’96, CEO of Puppet Labs, and congratulations to Jeremy Kua ’96, the recipient of a 2011 Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. … Chantal Sudbrack ’97 wrote to say that she is “cooking up plans” for the 15th reunion of her class … and two Reed chemists, Christina Inman ’00 and Evan Foster ’00, announced the birth of their son, Quillan Edward, on August 4, 2011.
In Memoriam took a look back at the careers of several Reed chemists. Paul Gottlieb Hafner ’34 [d. Sept. 2011 in Longview, WA after a prolonged illness] had a love of chemistry was evident from the many stories he told. Referring to his student days at Portland’s Lincoln High School, Paul said, “I was not particularly inspired as a student in the first years. The last two years, I took chemistry with Miss Emma Griebel. It was really the thing that got me interested in chemistry, and she was the one who inspired me to go to Reed.” Paul and another student drove a Model T to Reed that could barely make it across the Ross Island Bridge. “Being chemists, we knew about certain things, among which was benzene. We would get a few hundred cc's of benzene and put them in the little old Ford Model T, and that thing would take off! We’d pass everything on the bridge.” Describing the chemistry labs on the fourth floor of Eliot, he said, “Being in the attic, the chemistry labs didn’t have many windows; they had little dormers facing out onto the campus. In each dormer was a table where students would study. This is important because Dr. Strong [Prof. Ralph Kempton “Kampy” Strong, chemistry 1920-34] lived in Eastmoreland, about five or six blocks from the school, and he would walk to school every morning about 8:42 ½. He always had his black umbrella and he had a measured stride. We had sentinels out in the dormers to let us know when ‘the boss’ was coming so that everything was in order by the time he arrived …. He was very strict and there was no monkey business up there. You almost trembled in his presence, because you would ask a question, and then he would clear his throat and say, ‘Did you look it up?’ I think that the thing that I learned from Dr. Strong was the ability to study and look up things for myself.” Paul went on from Reed to earn an MA in biochemistry and an MD from the University of Oregon.
Earl M. Ringle ’46 [d. May 2011 in Spokane, WA] took his Reed BA in chemistry to work at Kaiser Aluminum, eventually working on projects all over the globe. He was a ham radio operator (N7ER) and worked part-time at the Spokane Opera House after his retirement.
Robert Luis Autrey ’53 [d. Sept. 2011 in Portland] was introduced to Reed by its most famous chemistry couple, Vera and Arthur Scott [chemistry 1923-79; acting president 1942-45], but he attended Rice University before he transferred to Reed and earned a BA in chemistry. “I was a complete grind, buried in the chemistry building. I remember those invaluable occasions when I left the familiar cocoon of the chemistry building to trek over to Winch and the Capehart room for music composition classes with Herb Gladstone [music 1946-80] – what a welcome change!” Robert earned a PhD in organic chemistry at Harvard and taught chemistry at the University of Rochester, Harvard, and the Oregon Graduate Center, which he helped found. He also served as associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, but he never lost his interest in music, and supported several Portland-area ensembles. Robert is also remembered for his generous donation to Reed College in memory of Vera Scott, which led to the creation of the Vera Scott Student Prize.
Barrett Lynn Tomlinson ’64 [d. Sept. 2011 in Portland after a brief fight with an aggressive cancer] came to Reed from Richland, Washington. He earned a BA in chemistry and followed that with a PhD in physical chemistry from University of California, Berkeley. He settled in Santa Clara, where he wrote computer programs for scientific and commercial use, and volunteered in his spare time for several scientific, educational, and charitable projects. The Tomlinson Family Scholarship, which will provide financial aid for a student in mathematics and natural sciences, was established at Reed a few days before Barry’s death.