Obituaries

Fred W. Billmeyer Jr., professor emeritus of analytical chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., died on Dec. 12, 2004, at the age of 85.

Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Billmeyer received a B.Sc. in chemistry from California Institute of Technology and earned a Ph.D. in 1945 at Cornell University, where he studied light scattering in synthetic rubbers.

Following graduation, Billmeyer took a position with the plastics department of DuPont, Wilmington, Del. During his time at the firm, he began investigating innovative ways to apply color to synthetic materials. He also held a position as a lecturer in high polymers in the University of Delaware chemistry department starting in 1951, and he served as a visiting professor in chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1960 to 1961.

Billmeyer left DuPont in 1964 to join the faculty at Rensselaer, where he taught polymer science and color science and directed the Rensselaer Color Measurement Laboratory. He authored more than 280 papers in the fields of polymer chemistry and color science, as well as several textbooks.

In 1966, he and colleague Max Saltzman published "Principles of Color Technology," a seminal text that was reissued in 1981 and again in 2000 as an expanded collaborative edition with Roy Berns. Billmeyer also served as a section editor for Chemical Abstracts and established the journal Color Research & Application in 1976, serving as its editor-in-chief for 10 years.

Billmeyer was an active member of numerous professional associations, including the Inter-Society Color Council, the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM), and the International Color Association. For his work, he was honored with the 1990 ASTM Award of Merit, and he was the first recipient in 2000 of the ASTM Committee E-12 on Color & Appearance's Award of Appreciation, fittingly named the Fred W. Billmeyer Jr. Award. He was also a member of Sigma Xi and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the Optical Society of America.

Billmeyer is survived by his wife, Annette; a daughter; three sons; and four grandsons. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1942.

Arnold L. Lippert, a retired chemistry professor and former arts and science dean at the University of Delaware, died on Nov. 10, 2004, two days short of his 94th birthday.

An Illinois native, Lippert graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. with high honors in 1931. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1934.

After graduation, he took a job as a research chemist with DuPont, Wilmington, Del. He then moved to the Joseph Bancroft Co., also in Wilmington, to serve as chemical director, eventually becoming vice president, then president. While at Bancroft, Lippert served as chief of the dyestuffs section of the U.S. War Production Board in Washington, D.C., from 1940 to 1944.

Lippert joined the faculty at the University of Delaware in 1966 as both a professor and dean of the College of Arts & Science. In 1971, he became the dean of the College of Graduate Studies and an associate provost of the university. He retired from university life in 1976 and, in 1990, moved with his wife to North Carolina.

Lippert is survived by his wife, Lela; three daughters; nine grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1933.

John H. Nair III, a quality control specialist retired from General Electric, died on June 21, 2004, at the age of 83.

Born in Syracuse, N.Y., Nair earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., followed by a master's in 1948 from the University of Pittsburgh.

Nair served in the U.S. Army during World War II, first as an infantryman and then as a staff sergeant with the Army Medical Nutrition Laboratory. After the war's end, he stayed in Germany for a year to help survey the nutritional needs of the civilian population.

Following discharge from the Army, Nair held positions with H. J. Heinz Co., Mellon Institute, and Syracuse University Research Corp., where he worked on air and water toxicology studies. He joined GE Silicones in Waterford, N.Y., in 1973.

After retiring in 1983, Nair enjoyed exploring his diverse interests, including ham radio, golf, woodworking, and model railroads. He also pursued a love of aviation and obtained a pilot's license.

Nair is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; two daughters; a son; and three granddaughters. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1943.

Carl A. von Frankenberg, a chemistry professor retired from the University of Delaware, died on March 1, 2004, at the age of 71.

A native of Germany, von Frankenberg began studying chemistry at Swarthmore College in 1950 but left to serve in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He returned to Swarthmore, in Pennsylvania, in 1953 and graduated with honors in 1956. He earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1960 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Following a year of postdoctoral work at Cornell University, von Frankenberg joined the faculty at the University of Delaware. His research focused on mathematical modeling of polymer structures.

For several years prior to von Frankenberg's retirement in 1997, he taught chemistry during a special summer program for gifted high school students. He was also active in the university's Health Science Advisory Committee and the Evaluation Committee. After his death, the university dedicated a new annual award for excellence in chemical education named in his honor.

Von Frankenberg is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; two daughters; seven grandchildren; and his mother. He joined ACS in 1961.

John C. Wriston Jr., professor emeritus of biochemistry at the University of Delaware, died on Nov. 6, 2004, at the age of 79.

Born and raised in Vermont, Wriston earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Vermont in 1948. He served three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II and went on to receive a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1953.

Following postdoctoral work at the University of Colorado, Wriston joined the University of Delaware's chemistry department in 1955 as its first biochemist. His research focused on the structure and function of the l-asparaginase enzyme and its use as an anticancer agent.

Wriston enjoyed two sabbatical leaves, one at Brookhaven National Laboratory and another at the Carlsburg Laboratory in Denmark. He was also an active member of the American Association of University Professors, for whom he served as an officer and contract negotiator. In his personal life, he enjoyed reading, hiking, and contributing to the study of Vermont history.

Wriston was preceded in death by his youngest daughter, Amy. He is survived by his wife, Tam; three children; and 10 grandchildren.