Obituaries

Edward Forbes Greene, who taught chemistry at Brown University, Providence, R.I., for more than four decades, died of pneumonia on Aug. 13 in Cambridge, Mass. He was 82. One of Brown's longest serving faculty members, Greene was chair of the chemistry department from 1980 until 1983 and held the Jesse H. & Louisa D. Sharpe Metcalf Chair from 1985 until 1992.

Born in New York City, Greene was raised in Beijing, where he attended the Peking American School. He earned an A.B. degree in chemistry from Harvard in 1943. From 1944 to 1946, he was an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy. Greene did graduate work in physical chemistry at Harvard as a student of George B. Kistiakowsky, receiving a Ph.D. in 1949. He worked briefly as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico before coming to Brown in 1950.

Greene was a pioneer in studies of chemical reactions, focusing first on chemical and physical processes in shock waves, then on experiments with molecular beams, and most recently on interactions of molecules with the surfaces of solids. He coauthored a book on shock waves that is considered a standard reference.

Greene's research in molecular beams served as the basis for developing many scientific instruments, including certain kinds of mass spectrometers. The annual Gordon Conference he initiated on the dynamics of gas-surface interactions is now one of the most important international meetings for experts in the field.

For much of his career, Greene was known around campus for running up stairs two at a time and wearing short-sleeved shirts outside in the depths of winter. In his late seventies, he could be seen walking to work with his hiking poles and backpack.

Surviving him are his wife, Hildegarde; two daughters; two sons; and four grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1948.

Theodora W. Greene, 73, author of "Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis," died on July 14.

Born in Boston, Greene received a B.A. in 1952 and an M.A. in 1953, both from Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass. In 1975, she resumed graduate work at Harvard, working with Elias J. Corey, and received a Ph.D. in 1980. Her book, "Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis" (1981, John Wiley & Sons), continues to be of great value to chemists involved in the construction of organic molecules. With Peter G. M. Wuts as coauthor, two further editions (1991 and 1999) and a Chinese-language edition (2004) were published.

Along with her husband, Frederick D. Greene, she was an assistant editor for the Journal of Organic Chemistry from 1959 to 1970, and assistant editor for the annual publication Organic Syntheses from 1980 until 2002. From 1981 to 1995, she was librarian at the Rowland Institute for Science, a research center founded in 1981 by Edwin H. Land.

In her personal life, Greene was an active member in the First Congregational Church in Winchester, Mass., primarily with the choir and the hand bells group.

Her husband, a brother, two sons, two daughters, and nine grandchildren survive her. She joined ACS in 1979.

Kenneth L. Marsi, retired professor and chemistry department chair at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), died on Aug. 20 in Dana Point, Calif., at the age of 76.

Marsi was a graduate of San Jose State University and went on to receive his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Kansas in 1955. After receiving his Ph.D., he was employed as a research chemist by Sherwin-Williams in Chicago, working mainly with phthalocyanin synthesis and pigment processing. In 1957, he joined the faculty of Fort Hays Kansas State University as an assistant and then an associate professor, where he remained until 1961. Marsi then served as a faculty member at CSULB, where he was a professor of chemistry for 35 years and chair of the chemistry department for 21 years until his retirement in 1996.

As an educator and advising professor, he introduced organic chemistry to more than 11,000 undergraduate students and mentored and supported 16 graduate students who received master's degrees under his guidance. In 1984, he was named University Outstanding Professor, and then he became a statewide Trustees Outstanding Professor in 1985. He received the TRW Distinguished Professor Award, and was twice the recipient of the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics Mayfield Outstanding Professor Award.

Marsi and his wife, Irene, opened up their home to a number of CSULB students who were without financial means so that they could pursue their educations. At his retirement, Marsi, faculty, family, and friends established the Kenneth L. Marsi Scholarship at CSULB to assist outstanding junior and senior chemistry or biochemistry majors. He also established an endowment at the University of Kansas to aid students seeking degrees in chemistry.

Marsi is survived by his wife, their four children, and eight grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1952.

John H. Pazur died peacefully on July 30, in State College, Pa.; he was 83.

Pazur was born in Zubne, Czechoslovakia, in 1922. When he was six, his family imigrated to Ruthven, Ontario. Pazur received a B.S. degree from Ontario's University of Guelph in 1944, an M.S. in biochemistry from McGill University, in Montreal, in 1946, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Iowa State University in 1950.

After serving as a National Institutes of Health Fellow and instructor in chemistry at Iowa State University and as assistant professor of biological chemistry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, he moved in 1952 to the department of biochemistry and nutrition at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he rose through the academic ranks, becoming professor of biochemistry in 1958 and serving as chair of the department from 1958 to 1966. In 1966, Pazur accepted a position as professor of biochemistry and head of the department of biochemistry at Pennsylvania State University, University Park. He retired as professor emeritus of biochemistry in 1991.

Pazur's major research interests dealt with the preparation and structural properties of antibodies for carbohydrate and glycoprotein antigens; the mechanism of action of glycoenzymes; and the chemistry of carbohydrates, especially oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, but also the enzymology of their biosynthesis. He is best known for his pioneering work on the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch to glucose and subsequent interconversion with fructose; this effort led to the now widely used commercial production of high-fructose syrup from cornstarch.

Pazur is survived by his wife, Jean; their four children; two grandchildren; and a sister. An emeritus member, Pazur joined ACS in 1950.

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