Obituaries

Alfred T. Ericson Jr., 77, a professor of chemistry, died on Oct. 26.

In 1950, he earned a B.S. in chemistry from Emporia State University, in Kansas, and taught high school for a year. He decided to go to Kansas State University and completed a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1956. He returned to ESU as a professor of chemistry. During 38 years there, he focused on analytical and environmental chemistry. He chaired the ACS local section in Wichita, Kan., in 1987 and 1993.

Ericson loved to sing and maintained the family farm in Greenwood County, Kan. After retirement, he and his wife, Helen, volunteered for a historical society and established several scholarships at ESU.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, two sons, a brother, and four grandchildren. He joined ACS in 1954.

Harold C. Givens, 92, an analytical chemist, died on Oct. 20.

Born in Newport, Va., he graduated from Roanoke College in Salem, Va., in 1934 with a B.A. in chemistry. He worked for Union Carbide for 44 years. During World War II, he separated isotopes of uranium for the Manhattan Project at Union Carbide's Linde Division in Tonawanda, N.Y. In 1947, he was transferred to the Linde Air Products plant in South Chicago, Ill., before returning to Tonawanda in 1950 to join Linde's new silicones division. In 1955, he became the first official employee of a new plant for the processing of high-purity silicon at Bens Run, W.Va.

Upon retirement as quality-control manager in 1978, he and his wife, Eleanor, moved to Sanford, N.C., where they were active in community, church, and civic organizations. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, seven children, 22 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1945.

Heinz Heinemann, 92, a petroleum chemist, died on Nov. 23 of pneumonia.

Born in Berlin, he attended Technical University in Munich, but his doctoral thesis was rejected because he was Jewish. So he went to the University of Basel in Switzerland to finish his Ph.D. in physical chemistry. In 1938, he came to the U.S. and worked in Louisiana and Texas at various oil companies.

After the war, Heinemann worked for Houdry Process in Marcus Hook, Pa. Later, he was director of chemical and engineering research for M. W. Kellogg Co. At Mobil Research & Development, he developed a process for converting methanol to gasoline.

Retiring from industry in 1978, he joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a senior scientist and pursued topics such as coal gasification, nitrogen oxide emission control, and catalytic oxydehydrogenation. At the time of his death, he held the title of distinguished scientist in LBNL's Washington office.

Heinemann cofounded several catalysis societies and started the journal Catalysis Reviews, serving as editor for 20 years.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Elaine, and survived by his wife of 10 years, Barbara, along with two children from his first marriage. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1940.

Ralph W. Kline, 88, a food scientist, died on Oct. 4.

He graduated with a B.S. in 1939 from Omaha University (now the University of Nebraska, Omaha), went to work for Armour Star in Chicago, and matriculated to Iowa State University for his Ph.D. in poultry science in 1945.

Kline spent 40 years at Armour in poultry and egg technology, first in the Chicago Stockyards, then at the R&D lab in Oak Brook, Ill., and finally at the Armour-Dial lab in Scottsdale, Ariz., from 1975 to his retirement in 1979.

Kline was instrumental in developing the frozen soufflé and similar entrées for the airline industry. He worked on perfecting spray-dried whole and separated eggs and egg products for the baking industry and spray-dried cheese products for the food industry.

Colleagues remember Kline for his active mentoring of coworkers, caring collaboration, and sharing of professional advice. In his retirement, he stayed active in the Sun City Poultry Club and volunteered in Phoenix as a docent at the Heard Museum, which showcases Native American art and culture.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Irene, and two daughters. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1943.

Robert B. Morland, an industrial chemist retired from British Petroleum, died unexpectedly on Oct. 8. He was 54.

Morland received a B.S. from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Ind., in 1973 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Kent State University, in Ohio, in 1976. He did postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University.

He worked for Union Carbide Agricultural Products in herbicide and plant growth regulator synthesis until 1986. He moved to Borg-Warner Chemicals and then to Amoco Chemicals, working in polymer synthesis and development. In 1992, he translated his broad chemical experience to new product development commercial management. Since the 1998 merger of BP and Amoco, he served in various management roles including information technology, business development, and chemicals central technology development. At his retirement, Morland served in market development and customer tech service for BP's linear -olefins business.

Morland was well-known in the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. In addition, he was a Boy Scout leader, an accomplished scuba diver, a cabinetmaker, and a Web designer.

He is survived by his wife, Diana; three sons; two grandchildren; and two siblings. He joined ACS in 1977.

Edward A. Nodiff, 78, a medicinal research chemist, died of cancer on July 16.

After growing up in Philadelphia, he graduated from Temple University with a B.S. in chemistry in 1948. He spent 20 years as project director and then director of organic and medicinal chemistry at the Research Institute of Temple University before moving on to a similar position at the Germantown Laboratories in Philadelphia.

From 1980 to his retirement in 1990, Nodiff was a principal scientist and section head at the Franklin Research Center in Philadelphia and Valley Forge, Pa. He specialized in antimalarial compounds and worked with the U.S. Army, GlaxoSmithKline, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Cancer Institute. After retirement, he patented an epoxy for an adhesive company.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Frances; two children; and four grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1952.

Anita C. Olson, 75, a biochemistry professor, died on Sept. 17 after a brief fight against cancer.

She earned a B.S. in chemistry and microbiology from Central State College (now the University of Central Oklahoma), in Edmond, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma. She did postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. She was an associate professor of biochemistry at Louisiana State University, Shreveport, and at Emory University in Atlanta. Upon retirement, she enjoyed gardening, photography, and studying the life cycle of butterflies. An emeritus member, she joined ACS in 1963.

Theodore T. Puck, 89, a genetics researcher, died on Nov. 6 of complications from a fall.

Born in Chicago, he graduated from the University of Chicago with B.S. (1937) and Ph.D. (1940) degrees in physical chemistry. During World War II, he served on an Army commission studying airborne infections.

In 1961, he founded the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute of Cancer Research, which is now part of the University of Denver. He devised techniques called somatic cell genetics for growing human cells in a lab and helped determine the number of chromosomes in a gene. He also performed some of the first studies of radiation doses and how environmental contaminants affect DNA.

Puck, who shortened his name from Puckowitz, was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Colleagues say he was shy but trained some of the best human geneticists in the world, including Sidney Altman, 1989 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry.

Puck continued to work in his laboratory until the week prior to his death. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Mary; three daughters; and seven grandchildren. He joined ACS in 1941.

Richard E. Rebbert, 78, a physical chemist, died on Oct. 19 of natural causes.

Born in Baltimore, he earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1948 from the city's Loyola College. In 1952, he received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. After a postdoctoral fellowship with the Canadian National Research Council in Ottawa, he started at Ethyl Corp. in Detroit in 1953.

In 1957, Rebbert and his family moved to Washington, D.C. He was assistant professor of chemistry at Georgetown University until 1961. For 31 years, he worked in various divisions of the National Institute for Standards & Technology.

His accomplishments included determining the primary reaction process by which chlorofluorocarbons decompose under ultraviolet light, which was central to understanding the mechanism of stratospheric ozone depletion.

After retiring from NIST, he taught chemistry for a few years at nearby Montgomery College in Takoma Park, Md., and volunteered. Fascinated by weather, he also recorded temperatures and precipitation in his backyard for years in a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration citizen science weather project.

His wife of 52 years died on Jan. 26. He is survived by four children, four grandchildren, and three sisters.

Benjamin K. C. Shim, 76, a research chemist, died on Nov. 11.

Born in Hawaii, he graduated with a B.S. in chemistry and physics from the University of Rochester in 1951 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University in 1955. He worked at Lord Corp. for 15 years and Mallinckrodt for 20 years.

Shim was an active church member and played the trumpet.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth; five children; eight grandchildren; and two sisters. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1954.

Anthony P. Wagener Jr., 86, an industrial chemist, died on Nov. 4.

In 1939, he received a B.S. in physics from the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va., and in 1941, an M.S. in chemistry from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), Pittsburgh.

Wagener spent 42 years at Sherwin-Williams Co. During World War II, he helped develop the pesticide DDT as part of the war effort. He also worked as a research chemist in pigments and machine coolants. After retiring in 1983, he took up stained glass as a hobby.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Lucille; five sons; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1942.

George E. Walrafen, 76, an expert on hydrogen bonding in aqueous media, was hit by a car and killed on Oct. 17 while visiting Maryland.

In 1951, he received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Kansas. He worked as an analytical chemist at Hanford Nuclear Facility and was in the Army Chemical Corps before heading to the University of Chicago to obtain M.S. (1957) and Ph.D. (1959) degrees in chemistry. He spent 15 years at Bell Laboratories as a member of the technical staff. During that time, he spent a year as a professor at the University of Marburg, in Germany.

In 1975, Walrafen became a professor at Howard University, Washington, D.C., and he retired in 1996. He moved back to Kansas and, in 2003, became an adjunct emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. His recent work focused on the use of Raman spectroscopy to probe interactions both in pure water and in aqueous solutions with solutes that engage in strong hydrogen bonding. He held two patents: one for an optical fiber Raman cell and the other for a slitless spectrometer.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Linda, in 2000. He joined ACS in 2000.

Bruno H. Zimm, 85, emeritus professor of chemistry and biochemistry, died on Nov. 26.

Born to a sculptor and writer in Woodstock, N.Y., he learned how to work with his hands. He had legendary ability to conceive and construct new scientific tools, such as the elastic viscometer, which estimates the size of DNA by stretching it and timing how long it takes to return to its original state.

At Columbia University, he received a B.S. in chemistry in 1941 and a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1944. After teaching briefly at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, he joined the chemistry faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, for four years; served at Harvard University for a year as a visiting lecturer; and spent nine years as a researcher at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, N.Y. Then he joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1960. Most of his work there focused on understanding fundamental properties of DNA and laid the groundwork for genomics research. He remained on campus until 2002.

Zimm was elected to the National Academy of Sciences at the age of 38. Despite his achievements, colleagues say he was modest. His diverse interests outside of science included sailing, playing the clarinet, and reciting limericks.

He is survived by his wife, Georgianna, a research biologist at UCSD, and two sons. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1942.

Obituaries are written by Rachel Petkewich. Obituary notices may be sent to r_petkewich@acs.org and should include detailed educational and professional history.