Clayton Callis Is Dead at 81

OBITUARY

Clayton F. Callis, who served the national American Chemical Society and its St. Louis Section in elected offices for nearly 50 years, including as ACS president in 1989, died on March 9 at the age of 81.

Callis served ACS on dozens of committees and was a member of the ACS Board of Directors from 1977 through 1990 and chair of the board of directors in 1982 and 1983. His national service also included stints as chair of the ACS Society Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service and of the Society Committee on Budget & Finance. He started his service in the St. Louis Section in 1958 and went on to become chair of the section in 1962. He received the St. Louis Section Award in 1971.

Callis retired in 1985 from Monsanto, where he was director of R&D for two of Monsanto's major companies and director of technology planning; he was also a member of the management board of Industrial Chemical Co. At the time of his retirement, he was director of environmental operations of Monsanto Fibers & Intermediates Co. After retiring, he became vice president of Chelan Associates, a consultancy. He served as interim director of Chemical Abstracts Service in 1991.

Callis received an A.B. degree from Central Methodist College, Fayette, Mo., in 1944, and M.S. (1946) and Ph.D. (1948) degrees in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research, which involved application of nuclear magnetic resonance to the study of phosphorus compounds, was of fundamental scientific importance and of great significance to Monsanto.

His wife, Sara, died in 1991. Survivors include two daughters--Joanne Roman of St. Louis and Judy Gasser Callis of Davis, Calif.--and four grandchildren, Jeff, Zach, Reta, and Max.