Alumni News from Reed Magazine, March ’13

There’s a tall stack of magazines on the table in my front hallway. It grows and grows from August until May, and only then does it lose some height. I recently rescued “Pathogenius,” the March 2013 issue of the Reed magazine, from the stack and found all kinds of chemists between its covers…

Silas Cook '99 used cascade reactions to synthesize artemisinin
Prof. Silas Cook ’99 used cascade reactions to synthesize artemisinin (photo courtesy of Indiana University)

Prof. Patrick McDougal surfaced on p. 5 as ‘acting dean of the faculty’ (“Reed Names New Dean of the Faculty”) and again on p. 30 as thesis mentor of Indiana U. chemistry professor Silas Cook ’99 (“Fighting Malaria on the Cheap”) … “Reed Shrinks Carbon Footprint” (p. 9) was a shout-out to the College’s ongoing battle with a triatomic molecule: carbon dioxide … Shantal Sudbrack ’97 contributed an essay (p. 10-1) from her vantage point as Alumni Board President … which was followed by a request from Julia Chamberlain ’03 for (“Far Flung”, p. 11) Reedies who would like to recombine for occasional events like Thirsty Third Tuesdays …

“The Science Bug” (p. 12-3) described how Reed students, like Cole Perkinson ’13 and Li Zha ’12, are teaching the glories of science to 5th-graders at Lewis elementary … Anna Henkin ’13 appeared in a photo (p. 19, top left); she was holding a beaker under a buret for an intent classmate as they converted the beaker’s contents into an orange compound … Ken Koe ’45, Arlene Blum ’66, Rebecca Braslau ’81, Kevan Shokat ’86, Silas Cook ’99 (“Fighting Malaria on the Cheap,” p. 30-1), Angela Koehler ’97, J.J. Miranda ’01, and Jonathan Rupp ’04  all appeared on the Pathogenius list of Reedies (p. 22-31) who are using their talents and energy to “{cure, fight, prevent} disease.”

Cole Perkinson '13 leads 5th grade science lesson at Lewis Elementary
Cole Perkinson ’13 leads Lewis Elementary 5th graders in science lesson

Sadly, the Class Notes section was virtually chemist-free from the Dawn of Time through 2010 (note to magazine editor: I would be grateful if you could help me identify pre-1989 chemists). Only in 2011 did we find mention of a chemist and this referred to a note I had posted about Alice Newton ’11 and her Belmont-beached bagel-baking food cart (sadly, Alice closed the cart shortly after the magazine appeared). The only other chemists I could find in this section were Cosmo Buffalo ’05 and Josh Kurzman ’07, who were both tucked inside a photo of the Simon-Teele wedding party (p. 48, top).

In Memoriam told us of the passing of one Reed chemist (Robert Isensee ’41), a Reed physics professor (Richard Crandall ’69), a past Reed president (Richard Sullivan [1956-67]), and one of our most loyal trustees (John D. Gray, [trustee 1961-2006]).

Dr. Robert Isensee '41Robert William Isensee ’41 (deceased June 25, 2012 in San Diego, California) Robert earned a BA from Reed and a doctorate from Oregon State University in chemistry and then taught chemistry for 35 years at San Diego State University. After retiring, he traveled and did volunteer work. Survivors include his wife of 69 years, Beth; two daughters; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

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