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Obituaries

by Susan J. Ainsworth
October 1, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 40

Philip L. Bartlett, 78, a retired DuPont research chemist, died of prostate cancer in Rockville, Md., on May 10.

Born in Corinna, Maine, Bartlett graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1951. He then studied at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, as a Fulbright Scholar. In 1955, he received a master's degree in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After receiving his graduate degree, he went to work for DuPont in Wilmington, Del., as a chemist and stayed with the company until he retired in 1992. During his career, he worked in the company's Experimental Station, Chambers Works, and Jackson Laboratory. Among his more notable achievements was the synthesis of a dye used to detect refrigerant leaks in automobile air-conditioning systems.

In retirement, Bartlett took courses in science, medicine, and history and pursued digital photography. He was a lifelong bachelor and lived in Wilmington until the final stages of his illness. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1953.

Roger G. Bates, 95, an emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Florida, died on Aug. 20.

Born in Cummington, Mass., and raised on a dairy farm, Bates earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts in 1934. During the Great Depression, Bates was able to complete his doctorate at Duke University in 1937 by securing an assistantship. He was then awarded a Sterling Fellowship at Yale University, where he spent two years involved in postdoctoral chemical research.

In 1939, he moved to Washington, D.C., and took a position as a physical chemist at the National Bureau of Standards, where he remained for 30 years. At NBS, he served as chief of the Electrochemical Analysis Section and assistant chief of the Analytical Chemistry Division. Bates is recognized for his work leading to the operational definition of "pH" and the NBS pH scale.

In 1969, Bates retired from government service and accepted a position as a professor of chemistry at the University of Florida, where he taught until 1979.

During his career, Bates published about 280 technical articles and three books, including "Electrometric pH Determinations" in 1954 and "Determination of pH: Theory and Practice" in 1964 and 1973.

Bates was awarded the Hillebrand Prize of ACS's Washington, D.C., Section in 1955; the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service of the Commerce Department in 1957; the ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry in 1969; and the Anachem Award of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry & Spectroscopy Societies in 1983. In 1995, he was recognized by the Analytical Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry "for distinguished contributions to solution chemistry." He was a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From 1951 to 1983, Bates was active in both the Analytical Chemistry and Physical Chemistry Divisions of the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry, serving as chairman of both the Commission on Electrochemical Data and the Commission on Electroanalytical Chemistry. Bates also served on the editorial advisory boards of publications, including C&EN and Analytical Chemistry.

He is survived by a daughter, May B. Daw, a sister; and a granddaughter. His wife of 62 years, Jo, died in 2003. An emeritus member, Bates joined ACS in 1936.

Herman D. Noether, 94, a Celanese research chemist, died on June 19.

Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, into a family of mathematicians, Noether began his study of chemistry at the Institute of Technology in Breslau, Germany. His studies were interrupted in 1934 when his father, who was of Jewish heritage, lost his university position when the Nazi Party was elected to power. The family moved to Tomsk, Siberia, where his father took a professorship at the local university.

Noether returned to his study of chemistry in Tomsk until his father was arrested on charges of spying for Germany. At that point, he and his brother were expelled from the Soviet Union and went to Sweden to live with distant relatives.

Supported by a fellowship that had been established with money collected by Harvard undergraduates, Noether moved to the U.S. and entered the graduate school at Harvard University in 1938, earning a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1943 with E. Bright Wilson as his mentor.

The following year, he joined Celanese, where he would work his entire career. A physical organic chemist, he became a first-generation polymer scientist who was a leader in transforming polymer X-ray diffraction from a difficult and specialized technique to a useful tool in the development of polymer products.

Upon retiring from Celanese, Noether served as a research associate at TRI/Princeton (formerly the Textile Research Institute) where he continued to work on X-ray diffraction of fibers, concentrating on the process-structure-property relationships of polypropylene.

An emeritus member, Noether joined ACS in 1941. He is survived by his wife, Dorit, also an ACS emeritus member, whom he met at a dance at Harvard in 1941; two daughters, Margaret Noether Stevens and Evelyn Noether Stokvis; and a son, Tom Noether.

Sameeh S. Toukan, 89, a research chemist, died on Jan. 20, in Phoenixville, Pa.

After graduating in 1940 from American University in Beirut, Lebanon, with a pharmacy degree, Toukan continued his education in the U.S. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1951 and a master's in 1952 from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Science. In 1961, he received a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Temple University.

Toukan started his career in 1958, working as a junior research chemist at National Drug in Philadelphia. In 1961, he was appointed as an instructor in organic chemistry for one year in the School of Pharmacy at Temple. In 1962, he accepted a position as a senior research chemist with resins and chemicals producer Pennwalt (now part of Atochem North America), where he worked until his retirement in 1988. He held 23 U.S. patents, mostly in the field of fluorine chemistry.

A world traveler, Toukan was fluent in four languages.

He is survived by his wife, Gabriele; a son; a daughter; and a granddaughter. Toukan was an emeritus member of ACS, joining in 1956.

Obituaries are written by Susan J. Ainsworth. Obituary notices may be sent to s_ainsworth@acs.org and should include detailed educational and professional history.

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