Obituaries

William A. Bonner, 87, professor emeritus of chemistry at Stanford University, died on Oct. 1 in Sunnyvale, Calif., where he had been recuperating from heart failure.

Bonner earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1941 and a doctorate in chemistry from Northwestern University in 1944.

After working as an instructor at Northwestern, he joined the Stanford staff as an instructor in 1946, earning full professorship in 1959. He retired in 1983, describing his stint at Stanford as "my first and only permanent job."

His research focused on organic chemistry. In particular, he was intrigued with the question of how amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—developed the consistent structural asymmetry that enables proteins to fold themselves into the three-dimensional structures that are the basis for all life on Earth.

Together with Edward Rubenstein, professor of medicine emeritus, who had been working with synchrotron radiation at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Bonner announced a new theory in Nature in 1983. They had deduced that circularly polarized radiation, which spirals like a badminton birdie in flight, could preferentially destroy molecules of one type of "handedness" over the other.

Rubenstein knew that when a giant star collapses in an immense, instantaneous explosion called a supernova, such spiraling radiation is generated. This theory will be one of several tested when the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, launched in 2004, lands on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.

Bonner was awarded a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1952 and was the author of more than 200 scientific publications.

He is survived by his second wife, Norma, whom he married in 1961; his first wife, Cyrena Nelson; four children; and two step-daughters. An emeritus member, he joined ACS 64 years ago.

Harry G. Day, 100, an Indiana University chemistry professor emeritus, died on Sept. 8 in Bloomington, Ind.

After receiving an A.B. in chemistry from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in 1930, Day earned a doctorate of science in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1933.

Following a one-year stint as a National Research Council fellow, he went to Yale University as a General Education Board fellow. He then returned to Johns Hopkins, where he was an associate in the department of biochemistry from 1936 until 1940. There, he established his lifelong career in nutrition, coauthoring the fifth edition of "The Newer Knowledge of Nutrition," published in 1939.

Day joined the chemistry faculty of Indiana University in 1940 as an assistant professor. He became a full professor in 1950 and served as chairman of the chemistry department from 1952 until 1962. He also served as associate dean of research and advanced studies from 1967 until 1972 and served in the Office of Research & Development from 1973 until his retirement in 1976. A pioneer in zinc research, he authored more than 200 scientific publications.

In the 1950s, Day conducted research with J. C. Muhler and W. H. Nebergall on the effects of fluorides in the reduction of dental caries. The research led to the first dentifrice containing stannous fluoride, Crest toothpaste, developed in collaboration with Procter & Gamble.

Day's interest in nutrition expanded to include significant contributions to the American Institute of Nutrition, the American Society of Biological Chemists, and the Indiana Academy of Science. He was involved in organizations including Kiwanis, Bloomington Hospital, and Bloomington City Council and First United Methodist Church.

Survivors include two daughters, one son, four grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marie, who died in 1969; his second wife, Gertrude, who died in 1992; and a grandson who died in infancy. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1938.

Harry R. (Rich) Fevold, 72, retired University of Montana professor, died on Sept. 20 from pancreatic cancer.

After receiving a degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana in 1956, Fevold earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Utah in 1961. He then spent two years as an National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at the University of Uppsala, in Sweden, where he focused on purifying human growth hormone.

Fevold returned to the University of Montana to join the chemistry department faculty, helping to start a biochemistry graduate program. He fostered an active research program in both avian endocrinology and the control of steroid hormone production. He retired in 1993.

Fevold was involved in serving with the Missoula Food Bank, Five Valleys Audubon Society, Immanuel Lutheran Church, the first Lutheran Campus Ministry Advisory Board, and the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif.

He is survived by his wife, Jeane; three children; and two grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1962.

John F. Jones, 85, a patent attorney, died suddenly on Sept. 17.

Jones served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He then earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of North Dakota in 1947.

He went on to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin under Homer B. Adkins. However, when Adkins died in 1949, Jones opted to earn a master's degree the following year rather than begin a new course of study necessary to earn a doctorate.

Jones moved to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to work in the then-emerging field of polymer research at B.F. Goodrich Tire & Rubber, which is now part of Lubrizol. During his few years in R&D, Jones contributed to the development of Carbopol cross-linked acrylic acid-based polymers. At the same time, he returned to school at night to study law.

In 1956, he earned a J.D. degree from Akron School of Law, which is now part of the University of Akron, and moved to the patent department at B.F. Goodrich. In 1962, he began working for Standard Oil of Ohio, which is now part of BP, where he retired after 20 years. In retirement, he was a patent law consultant to several companies, including Ashland Chemical.

Jones is survived by seven children, 12 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. His wife of 60 years, Sally, died recently. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1948.

Vladimir S. Mitlin, 48, died of complications from Parkinson's disease on Sept. 2.

Mitlin earned a master's degree in applied mathematics in 1981 and a Ph.D. in fluid mechanics in 1987, both from the National Gas Research Institute in Moscow. Moving to the U.S. in the early 1990s, he completed nearly two years of postdoctoral studies in the chemical engineering department at the University of Texas, Austin, under Isaac Sanchez.

He then pursued an industrial career, focusing on digital communications, software development, and simulation tools. In 2003, he left one of his employers, Metric Systems, to begin his own consulting business in San Diego.

An accomplished mathematician with a background in condensed-matter physics, he authored more than 70 papers and three books: "Nonlinear Dynamics of Reservoir Mixtures" in 1993, "Performance Optimization of Digital Communication Systems" in 2006, and "The mu-Transform and Its Applications to Nonlinear Science" in 2007.

Mitlin is survived by his wife, Carole, and two daughters.

Leslie E. Orgel, 80, a Salk Institute theoretical chemist, died of pancreatic cancer in San Diego on Oct. 27.

A professor and head of the institute's Chemical Evolution Laboratory, Orgel was among the first scientists, in the 1960s, to suggest that RNA, rather than DNA, was the first repository of genetic information. He suspected that an even simpler genetic precursor to RNA itself must have existed.

Born in London, Orgel earned a bachelor's degree in 1949 and a doctorate in chemistry in 1951 from Oxford University. Subsequently, he accepted research fellowships at California Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago in 1954 and 1955, respectively.

Orgel then served as assistant director of research at Cambridge University's theoretical chemistry department. There he helped develop ligand field theory, which describes chemical bonding in metals. He published the book "An Introduction to Transition-Metal Chemistry: The Ligand Field Theory" in 1961.

In 1964, Orgel became a fellow at the Salk Institute, where he developed his theories about RNA. He summarized these arguments in his 1973 book, "The Origins of Life: Molecules and Natural Selection."

He also investigated how a universal genetic code could have evolved. In 1973, Orgel and his Salk colleague Francis Crick theorized that "directed panspermia" —the seeding of life on other worlds by a guiding intelligence—could solve the mystery.

Orgel was one of five principal investigators of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration-sponsored research and training program in exobiology. He also participated in NASA's Viking Mars Lander Program.

In addition to his work at the Salk Institute, Orgel was an adjunct professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.

Orgel is survived by his wife, Alice; two sons; and one daughter. He joined ACS in 1967.

George Rieveschl Jr., 91, who developed the antihistamine in Benadryl, died of pneumonia on Sept. 27 in Cincinnati.

Rieveschl was an assistant professor researching muscle-relaxing drugs at the University of Cincinnati in the early 1940s when he realized the potential of β-dimethylaminoethylbenzhydryl ether hydrochloride as an antihistamine. The compound became the active ingredient in Benadryl. Although not the first antihistamine to be discovered, it was the first that did not cause severe drowsiness.

Rieveschl graduated from Ohio Mechanics Institute of Technology in 1933 and sought employment as a commercial artist. In the midst of the Great Depression and unable to find work, he decided to enroll at the University of Cincinnati, where he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1937.

He stayed at the university, earning a doctorate in chemistry in 1940 and accepting a teaching position in the department of chemical engineering. Within two years, he was promoted to assistant professor.

In 1943, Rieveschl moved to Detroit to work as a research chemist and test his antihistamine discoveries at Parke-Davis. After the company began marketing Benadryl in 1946, he rose through the company ranks, becoming vice president of commercial development in 1961. In 1965, he left the company and worked as a consultant to drug firms. Rieveschl returned to the University of Cincinnati in 1970, taking on the roles of vice president of research and acting vice president of the university's medical center. He retired in 1982.

He is survived by his wife, Ellen; two sons; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1937.

Rupert A. D. Wentworth, 72, an Indiana University chemistry professor emeritus, died on Sept. 5 at his home in Bloomington, Ind.

Wentworth received an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Fordham University in 1955 in New York City. On the day of his graduation, he was commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a line officer with the 2nd Marines Division. Following his service, he worked as a chemist for W.R. Grace in Belleville, N.J., and Baton Rouge, La.

Eager to further his chemical education, he later attended Michigan State University, first as an Eastman Kodak fellow and then as a National Science Foundation fellow, studying the lower oxidation states of niobium. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1963, he spent two years at the University of Illinois as a postdoctoral associate studying the application of polarized crystal spectra to ligand field theory.

Wentworth moved to Indiana University in 1965 to begin his academic career. Within Indiana University's chemistry department, Wentworth was the first coordinator of the general chemistry program, spending several years revising and updating its experiments. He wrote many research papers, a textbook titled "Experiments in General Chemistry," and several lab manuals.

After his retirement in 1998, he also wrote an autobiography, "Caught with My Pants Down: My Story about Prostate Cancer, Metastatic Prostate Cancer, and More."

In addition to chairing ACS's first Project SEED program, he and his wife, Anne Fraker, helped to establish a food pantry at the local First United Methodist Church, where he also served on the administrative council.

Wentworth is survived by his wife, three daughters, two sons, and four grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1964.