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Environment

People

by Deanna Miller, Victoria Gilman
February 16, 2004 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 82, Issue 7

Academe


GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Washington, D.C.

Gualberto Ruaño has been named adjunct professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the School of Medicine & Health Sciences. He will help advise the university in establishing its McCormick Genomics Center. Founder and former CEO of Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Ruaño recently founded Genomas, a company seeking to advance the health care industry. He earned a B.A. in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University, an M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. in genetics from Yale University.

Business


INPHARMATICA
London

Andrew Ayscough, previously director of research at British Biotech Pharmaceuticals, has been appointed director of chemistry at Inpharmatica. While at British Biotech, he directed projects in cancer and anti-infectives and managed collaborations with the company's partners. He received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Bath, in England, and a doctorate from the University of Oxford.

Edwin Moses, nonexecutive director of Inpharmatica since July 2001, has been appointed nonexecutive chairman. He was previously CEO and then executive chairman of Oxford Asymmetry International, overseeing its merger with Evotec BioSystems in 2000. Moses received a doctorate in chemistry from Sheffield University, in England, and was awarded a Royal Society/NATO postdoctoral fellowship for studies in biophysical chemistry at Regensburg University, in Germany.

 

NORMAN, FOX & CO.
City of Commerce, Calif.

Richard Cleek has been promoted to president and chief operating officer. He was previously vice president of sales and marketing.

Keith Johnson, formerly president of the company, has been promoted to vice chairman of the board. He will also serve as chief technical officer.

Michael C. Stephens has started as sales and marketing manager, bringing almost 20 years' experience in the chemical industry. He spent 15 years at PQ Corp., most recently as business manager for zeolite products and absorbent gels.

 

SACHEM
Austin, Texas

Shoichi Akiyoshi is the new president of SACHEM Asia and will be based in Osaka. He joined the company in September 2003 after an extensive career in the Asian chemicals business, most recently with Engelhard Asia Pacific. Akiyoshi will focus primarily on electronic chemicals, biotech, pharmaceutical intermediates, polymers, and catalysts. He graduated from Waseda University, in Japan, with a B.S. in chemical engineering.

Jerry Windisch, most recently president of SACHEM Asia, has moved to the Austin headquarters to assume the role of vice president for global marketing. He will develop the company's global business strategy for its key market segments in electronics, life sciences, polymers, and catalysts, as well as work on new business initiatives. Windisch has a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Florida with additional studies in international business.

 

OTHER COMPANIES

Rainer M. Blair has been appointed group vice president of coatings in North America for BASF Corp., Southfield, Mich. He will also have global responsibility for the automotive original equipment manufacturer coatings unit. Blair joined BASF AG in 1990 as product and marketing manager for industrial chemicals. In 1995, he joined BASF Corp. as marketing manager for acrylic monomers. He was in charge of BASF Argentina, as well as the plastics and chemicals units of BASF Group in South America, from 1998 to 2001. Blair earned an M.B.A. from Boston University.

William J. Bryant has been named director of strategic marketing and planning for mergers and acquisitions at Hilty Moore & Associates, Chagrin Falls, Ohio. His experience includes more than a decade with ICI Americas, where he held sales, marketing, and business development positions in the global specialty chemicals business. Bryant also worked as international sales leader and business development manager at Lubrizol Corp.

Frank Hoefflin has been named director of R&D at Sika Automotive, Madison Heights, Mich. He brings more than seven years' experience in technology management, most recently at Exatec, a GE/

Bayer joint venture, where he was global technology manager. While working for GE, he was awarded GE Plastics' prestigious Dan Fox Award in 1999 for his work on novel weatherable polymer formulations. Hoefflin earned a doctorate in polymer chemistry/materials science from the University of Freiburg, in Germany.

Cynthia A. Kuper has joined NanoDynamics, Buffalo, as director of NDInnovations, established in 2003 to help inventors, research organizations, and universities create value from intellectual property in the nanotechnology field. At age 28, Kuper founded the first nanotechnology materials business in the Philadelphia region: Versilant Nanotechnologies. For the past three years, she has worked to develop enabling technologies for the commercial use of carbon nanotubes. Kuper received a B.S. and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Temple University, Philadelphia.

Joseph Murphy has been appointed director of business development at Synthetech, Albany, Ore. He will be based in New Jersey. He has a range of commercial experience in fine chemicals and custom manufacturing, and he worked at Degussa, Eastman, and Schweizerhall. His technical background is mainly in the area of amino acids, peptides, and chiral intermediates. Murphy has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Toronto.

Graham Ruecroft has accepted the newly created role of head of process development at Accentus C3 Technology, Harwell, Oxfordshire, England. He brings almost 17 years' experience in pharmaceutical research and the scale-up and development of pharmaceutical fine chemicals syntheses. Ruecroft received a B.S. and an M.S. in chemistry from, respectively, the University of Teesside, in England, and the University of North London, as well as a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry from Open University, in England.

This section is compiled by Deanna Miller. Announcements of promotions and new hires may be sent to d_miller@acs.org.

Obituaries


 

Elbert B. Childs, a chemist retired from Mobil Oil, died at the age of 95 on July 29, 2003.

Childs was born in St. Louis, Mo., but moved with his family to Rochester, N.Y., at a young age. He graduated from Yale University in 1932 with bachelor's degrees in both chemistry and chemical engineering. Childs also studied piano and trombone at Eastman School of Music in Rochester.

Following graduation, Childs taught high school chemistry in New London, Conn., then worked in wartime industries as a chemist in St. Louis during World War II. In 1947, Childs joined Mobil, where he enjoyed a 25-year career.

With Mobil, Childs invented and patented many analytical instruments. He retired from the firm's laboratory in Princeton, N.J., in 1972.

Childs is survived by his wife, Katherine; a daughter; and two grandchildren. Joined ACS in 1935; emeritus member.

Julius D. Fleming, a research chemist retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) National Fertilizer Plant, died on Sept. 15, 2003. He was 85.

Born in Due West, S.C., Fleming attended that state's Erskine College. He earned a master's degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed postgraduate work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Fleming worked for TVA from 1942 to 1981. He also served as a naval meteorologist during World War II and for two years during the Korean War. In 1985, Fleming coauthored a book on liquid fertilizer.

Fleming was active in many community groups, including service as a Sunday school teacher, local Kiwanis club member, Boy Scout leader, and director of a TVA program that assisted low-income families with growing food.

Fleming is survived by his wife, Margaret; a daughter; two sons; and three granddaughters. Joined ACS in 1943; emeritus member.

George Koch, a research chemist who developed a commercially viable line of human blood plasma components to replace the use of whole blood in medicine, died on Sept. 4, 2003, at the age of 75.

A native of New York City, Koch served in the Army during World War II and was funded through the Montgomery GI Bill to attend New York University (NYU), where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1951.

Following graduation, Koch worked for Charles Pfizer & Co. as a research chemist. There he assisted in discovering Rimocidin, an antifungal agent, as well as Agri-Mycin, an antibiotic used to control plant disease.

Koch moved to Heyden-Newport Chemical Co. in the early 1960s, where he developed Strobane, an insecticide targeting boll insects in cotton. In the late 1960s, Koch received an M.B.A. from NYU's Graduate School of Business Management. He then joined Armour Pharmaceutical Co., where he conducted his pioneering work on blood components.

Koch moved to Florida in 1972 to join Cordis Corp. After suffering a major heart attack in 1975, he left chemistry to study psychotherapy at the University of Northern Colorado. He was licensed to practice in Florida in the 1980s and became a lecturer and certified teacher.

Koch is survived by his wife, Diana; former wife, Marilyn; two daughters; two stepdaughters; and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Marianne. Joined ACS in 1953; emeritus member.

Masamune
[+]Enlarge

Satoru Masamune, retired professor of organic chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, died on Nov. 9, 2003. He was 75.

Masamune was born in Kukuoka, Japan, and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, in 1952. He was then awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1957.

After conducting postdoctoral work and serving as a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, Masamune joined the faculty of the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, where he stayed from 1964 to 1978.

In 1978, Masamune was recruited to the chemistry department at MIT. At the time, he had already earned international acclaim for developing novel methods for organic synthesis. While at MIT, he continued to make important contributions to the field, particularly in natural product synthesis and small ring systems.

For his work, Masamune was awarded the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 1978 and an ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award in 1987. He was also named a Centenary Scholar by the Chemical Society of London in 1980 and awarded Japan's Fujihara Award in 1997.

Masamune retired from MIT in 2000, but he continued doing research. In his personal life, he nurtured passions for baseball, sumo wrestling, and classical music.

Masamune is survived by his wife, Takako; a son; a daughter; a sister; and four brothers. Joined ACS in 1956; emeritus member.

Charles A. Stokes, a consulting chemical engineer who was considered a leading expert on methanol manufacturing and marketing, died on Sept. 27, 2003, at the age of 87.

Born in Mohawk, Fla., Stokes earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Florida in 1938. He also played trumpet in a local band, waited tables, and served on a highway survey crew to pay for his education.

After graduation, Stokes attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a doctorate in chemical engineering in 1951. While studying at MIT, Stokes served as an instructor, then as an assistant professor. He also joined Cabot Corp., where he became a leader in carbon black manufacturing. He stayed with the company until 1955.

During the Korean War, Stokes co-founded Texas Butadiene & Chemical, a manufacturer of top-grade aviation fuel. He served as the firm's vice president and technical director until 1959, when he left to become vice president of Columbian Carbon Co., later acquired by Cities Service Corp.

In 1969, Stokes formed Charles A. Stokes, Sc.D., Inc. and the Stokes Consulting Group to provide expertise to energy companies and the emerging synthetic fuels industry. His firms' clients included Air Products & Chemicals, Amoco, Bayer AG, and Monsanto.

In recent years, Stokes focused his attention on alternative and renewable energy technologies, including solar energy, biomass to energy, and waste to energy. He worked intensively on an international development project with a European client to bring clean fuels and safe appliances to poorer households in underdeveloped countries.

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Stokes is survived by his wife, Connie; three sons; and five grandchildren. Joined ACS in 1937; emeritus member.

Obituaries are written by Victoria Gilman. Obituary notices may be sent by e-mail to v_gilman@acs.org and should include detailed educational and professional history.

 

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