The cover of the Reed Magazine’s fall issue asked, What is a Reedie, Anyway? That’s a tough one. Perhaps these news items from the magazine can help you figure out what a Reedie chemist might be.
Tucked into various features were items about chemistry/physics major
Collin Perkinson’ 13 who had won a Goldwater scholarship (p. 6) … Prof.
Virginia Hancock ’62 (chemistry) [music 1991-], who was recognized (along with Jim Kahan ’64 and Barbara Smith-Thomas ’64) for
her many years of volunteer work on behalf of the college (p. 7). Among
her many doings, Virginia directs the Reed Chorus and the Collegium
Musicum which she cofounded in 1996 with Prof. John Hancock [chemistry
1955-89]. (The Hancocks and the Collegium Musicum also appear
again on p. 66-7 in The Maestro, a memorial to Prof. Herb Gladstone
[music 1946-80].) …
and a new director of Reed’s nuclear reactor, Dr.
Melinda Krahenbuhl, has taken charge of the famous “blue glow” (p. 9).
Melinda arrived in June 2011 after working as reactor director at the
University of Utah and scientific researcher at Dow Chemical.
An article, the “Puppet
Master” (p. 16), profiled Luke Kanies ’96 and his software company,
Puppet Labs. Luke told his interviewer, “I didn’t know anything when I first started the
business, and I was just going this process of discovery. I’ve spent a
lot of time trying to build a model of reality, and science is all about
trying to build a reality, understanding it, adjusting it, rinsing and
repeating. Programming has a lot of overlap with that.” If you didn’t
catch it, let me point out three words, “rinsing and repeating.” It
seems like Luke’s chemistry training has served him well.
The Class Notes section prominently displays a picture of UC Santa Cruz Prof. Joe
Bunnett ’42 [and a once-upon-a-time Reed chemistry professor and
trustee]. The photo shows Joe standing alongside another
internationally recognized chemist, Dr. Mary Anne Fox, Chancellor, UC
San Diego. Dr. Fox was the invited speaker at the Joseph F. Bunnett
Research Organic Chemistry Lecture, a lecture series inaugurated in 2001
by the chemistry department at UC Santa Cruz where Joe taught for
several decades. … The University of Tennessee gave awards to two
Reedies on its faculty, Prof. Jeff Kovac ’70 and Prof. Jed Diamond ’79.
Jeff, who is on the chemistry faculty, received the Chancellor’s
Citation for Excellence in Academic Outreach. … Prof. Kevan Shokat
’86, UC San Francisco, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in recognition for his work on kinases, a key part of the
biochemical machinery that keeps our bodies working properly. … Vera
Sideraki ’90 recently designed the cover illustration for a book by
James Faubion ’80, An Anthropology of Ethics. Vera says, “my right brain
hemisphere has finally had it with science, and has taken over.” She
also reports that even though the climate in her current home, Scotland,
closely resembles that of Oregon, she still misses the Pacific NW. …
Philip Wilk ’95 has moved to the Washington DC area and is now working
at the Office of Basic Energy Sciences. … Wedding bells rang for Jamie
Ford ’02 and Jeannette Brugger in Philadelphia last year. Jamie is
currently a postdoc at U. Pennsylvania studying polymer membranes.
Jeannette is a city planner. … Julia Robinson-Surry ’06 shares this
memory, “the only thing I will miss about MIT is sneaking out of lab to
attend Chomsky lectures.” Julia recently earned her PhD in organic
chemistry and has moved to the Big Apple. … Kristen Grauer-Gray ’07
has returned to the US after three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in
rural Tanzania. “I miss my village and am readjusting slowly to life in
America.”
In Memoriam brought us sad news about the passing of several Reed
chemists: Paul Metz ’37 studied both biology and chemistry at Reed
before earning an M.D. from the University of Oregon in 1939. Paul
worked as a practicing surgeon and medical researcher in Portland until
he retired at age 92. … Hulbert Elmer Sippel ’43 used his Reed
chemistry training to become a research chemist and petroleum engineer
for the Shell Oil Company. He retired in 1982 after spending 40 years
with the company. … Robert Egan Sullivan ’49 said he could never
forget about Reed’s chemistry department and also taking classes from
Prof. F.L. Griffin [mathematics, 1911-56]. “The most important thing I
learned at Reed was to keep an open mind and to believe very little that
I heard without first conducting my own investigation.” After
graduating from Reed in chemistry, Robert earned an MEd from Oregon
State University, first teaching chemistry, math, and general science,
for several years, and then working as a physical chemist for the Navy.
… Ralph Russell Wilkinson ’53 took his BA in Reed chemistry first to
the University of Oregon where he earned a PhD in physical chemistry and
then to the University of Missouri where he earned an MBA. A diverse
career led him to the VA hospital and Midwest Research Institute in
Kansas City, and then to teaching jobs at Rockhurst College and
Cleveland Chiropractic College, from which he retired as professor
emeritus. … Walter Bruce Clyde ’55 came to Reed from Franklin High
School in SE Portland. He transferred to Portland State University after
spending three years at Reed. He subsequently worked as a Portland-area
paint chemist for nearly 47 years and served as president of the
Pacific Northwest Society for Coatings Technology.