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People

Obituaries

by Rachel Petkewich
January 30, 2006 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 84, Issue 5

Joseph A. Beckman, 68, an industrial chemist, died on Dec. 22, 2005, after a five-month battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Born in Macomb, Ill., he earned an A.B. in chemistry from Western Illinois University in 1960 and completed a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry at Iowa State University four years later.

In 1964, he joined the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in Akron, Ohio, as a research scientist. During his 23 years at Firestone, Beckman helped in the development of many rubber processes and products, resulting in 16 patents. In 1987, he moved to Baton Rouge, La., to become vice president of the research and development division of Copolymer (later DSM/Copolymer). He remained with the company until his retirement in 1998.

As a member of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Beckman whiled away many hours tinkering with his extensive collection of timepieces. He also enjoyed gardening, bird watching, woodworking, and golfing and was a passionate fan of Louisiana State University football and baseball.

Peggy, his wife of 46 years, and two children survive him. A former chair of the Akron Section, he joined ACS in 1963.

David J. W. Grant, 68, chemistry professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota and an international expert on development of drug products, died on Dec. 9, 2005.

Grant earned his master's, D.Phil., and D.Sc. degrees at Oxford University. He taught at the University College of Sierra Leone; the University of Nottingham, in England; and the University of Toronto, in Ontario, where he served as associate dean for graduate studies. He joined the University of Minnesota in 1988 and served for three years as head of the department of pharmaceutics. Known as an authority on the solid-state properties of drugs, he also founded and directed the college's Drug Delivery Center.

He had been an associate editor of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences since 1994 and served on the editorial boards of several other publications.

His colleagues describe him as a kind, humble, and brilliant man. In addition to being a researcher and teacher, Grant was a licensed amateur radio operator and fluent in German.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; two sons; two stepchildren; and three step-grandchildren. He joined ACS in 1988.

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Huber
Huber

Clarence F. Huber, 88, an organic chemist, died on Dec. 17, 2004, after a short illness.

A native of Indiana, Huber received a bachelor's degree in 1938 from Wabash College and a master's degree in 1941 from the University of Illinois. During World War II, he developed lubricants and petroleum additives for Cleveland Industrial Chemicals and Lubrizol. He also collaborated on some of the first multiviscosity motor oils.

After the war, he completed a Ph.D. in organometallics at Case Institute of Technology in 1950. Subsequently, he worked for several chemical firms, including Carlisle Chemical Works and Emery Industries, and as an industrial consultant. His work on lubricants, petroleum additives, fatty acids, tall oils, polymers, and cosmetics resulted in many patents. Keeping busy in his later years, he took up a second career doing tax returns and teaching tax preparation.

An emeritus member, Huber joined ACS in 1938 and held numerous leadership positions in the Cincinnati and Southern California Sections. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; five children; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a brother, Wilbur, who is also an emeritus ACS member.

Samuel M. Tuthill, 86, an analytical chemist, died on Dec. 6, 2005.

Tuthill grew up on a farm in Rocky Point, N.Y., and earned a B.A. in 1939 and an M.S. in 1941, both in chemistry, from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. In the summer of 1941, he joined Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. He performed routine analytical tests until the U.S. entered World War II, when Mallinckrodt began working on the Manhattan Project.

His involvement with the Manhattan Project finished with the war's end in 1945, when he decided to pursue graduate studies. In 1948, he graduated from Ohio State University with a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry and returned to Mallinckrodt as the uranium analytical lab supervisor. He held several management positions until his retirement in 1981. Including his service as a consultant until 1996, his association with the company lasted almost 55 years.

He served on the ACS Committee on Analytical Reagents for more than 40 years and chaired it for seven years. In 1989, Tuthill received the American Society for Testing & Materials Award of Merit for "exceptional contributions, leadership, and diligence in developing and writing standards for industrial chemicals." He was also the ACS delegate to the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.

Tuthill served as treasurer in 1960, secretary in 1961 and 1962, and chairman in 1964 of the St. Louis Section of ACS. His service to chemistry was not confined to St. Louis: He also sat on several national committees that developed specifications and testing methods for food, drug, reagent, and industrial chemicals. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1941.

William R. Wheeler, 89, a chemist and industrial engineer, died on Oct. 16, 2005.

Born in Indianapolis in 1916, Wheeler received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1936 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1939.

Wheeler spent his career at Reilly Tar & Chemical (now Reilly Industries), joining the company in 1939. His efforts there led to the production of synthetic pyridine bases on a commercial scale. Together with other Reilly chemists, Wheeler developed a catalyzed vapor-phase process to make pyridine and β-picoline from acetylene-formaldehyde-ammonia feedstock.

Inspired by the technology of the day, he pioneered a fluidized-bed process whereby catalyst circulated in a reactor-regenerator system to allow continuous production. His work led to numerous patents. In 1974, Wheeler became Reilly's research director. Upon his retirement in 1981, Reilly Industries named its specialty pyridines unit the Wheeler Plant in his honor.

A U.S. Army veteran, he is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marion; two children; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1937.

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