Obituaries

Milton H. Campbell, 80, a retired Hanford Site chemist and engineer, died in Richland, Wash., on Nov. 4 after 26 years of living with one lung.

Born in Billings, Mont., Campbell earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from Montana State College, Bozeman, in 1951. He then served in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps from 1953 to 1955 during the Korean conflict before earning an M.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Washington.

Campbell then went to work at the U.S. government's Hanford Site in Washington state to help start the Purex separations plant. Throughout his career, he worked for eight major companies at Hanford in management and senior technical positions before retiring as a fellow engineer in 1997.

He wrote, presented, and published technical papers and edited books on separations chemistry and high-level nuclear waste management.

Campbell was an emeritus member of the American Nuclear Society and of ACS, which he joined in 1960. Campbell was also involved in ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing & Materials), which named him a fellow and presented him with an Award of Merit.

Campbell is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marguerite; four children; and nine grandchildren.

Irene B. Cruickshank, 87, the first administrative secretary and treasurer for the Gordon Research Conferences (GRC), died on Nov. 2.

Born in Westerly, R.I., Cruickshank was not a chemist, but she participated in a major transition of an organization that has played an important role in the development of modern chemistry and in the professional lives of many chemists.

From 1947 to 1953, Cruickshank managed the financial and logistical operations of GRC as its name changed from Chemical Research Conferences and the venue for its meetings moved from Maryland to New England. She provided an efficient and stable base for the organization that continues today. She earned a business degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1972.

Cruickshank is survived by her husband of 64 years, Alex; two children; and four grandchildren.

John L. Kice, 78, professor emeritus of chemistry and former dean of natural science, mathematics, and engineering at the University of Denver, died on Oct. 31 in Aurora, Colo., after a long battle with cancer.

Born in Colorado Springs, Colo., Kice earned a bachelor's degree in 1950 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1954, both from Harvard University.

During his 40-year career in higher education, Kice held chemistry faculty positions at Texas Tech University, the University of Vermont, Oregon State University, and the University of South Carolina.

In 1985, he joined the University of Denver faculty as chairman of the chemistry department. From 1988 to 1995, he acted as dean, working to obtain funding for the construction of Olin Hall, the university's chemistry and biochemistry building.

Kice, who authored more than 140 research publications, was well known for his work in organosulfur and organoselenium chemistry. He also cowrote a textbook for undergraduate organic chemistry.

An emeritus member, Kice joined ACS in 1951. Over the years, he served as chairman of ACS local sections in Oregon, West Texas, and Colorado. He also served two terms on the governing board of the Council for Chemical Research.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Ellen; two daughters; and two grandchildren.

Sambamurthy Seshadri, 72, an eminent organic and dyestuffs chemist, died at his home in Pune, India, on Nov. 4.

In 1959, Seshadri received a doctorate in organic chemistry from the former University of Bombay's Royal Institute of Science under A. B. Kulkarni.

Until 1962, Seshadri did postdoctoral work with M. S. Newman at Ohio State University and with George H. Buchi at Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Seshadri then returned to India, where he accepted a position with the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research.

With a strong grounding in heterocyclic chemistry, Seshadri saw the immense potential of applying it to dyestuffs synthesis. In 1963, he joined Mumbai University's old University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT) working in a preprofessorial role in colorant chemistry. In 1979, he was appointed professor and head of the department of dyes and intermediates at UDCT.

He leveraged the potential of the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction to synthesize new heterocyclic and polycyclic structures that have been evaluated as pharmaceutical, crop protection, and perfumery ingredients.

Seshadri retired in 1996, having guided more than 75 graduate students and published more than 115 papers in international journals. In 1992, he received the C. D. Foundation Award for developing a novel and economic route to a polyester whitener. In 1991, he received the Amar Dye-Chem Endowment Award for contributions to dyestuffs chemistry.

He is survived by his wife, Geetha, and son, Kumar.

Hymin Shapiro, 93, a retired senior Ethyl Corp. chemist, died in Kirkland, Wash., on Nov. 1.

Born in Detroit, Shapiro received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Wayne State University in 1934 and an M.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1936.

Shapiro then landed a position as a chemist in the Detroit research laboratory of Ethyl (now part of NewMarket), where he would spend his entire career. He later became assistant director of chemistry research for the company. In 1957, Shapiro transferred from Detroit to Baton Rouge, La., where he served as senior research adviser until his retirement in 1985.

Shapiro generated 110 patents, including one for organomanganese compounds that became the basis of a commercial antiknock compound for gasoline. In 1968, he coauthored the text "The Organic Compounds of Lead." Shapiro was an emeritus member of ACS, joining in 1937.

Shapiro is survived by two children, Gary and Galia; a stepson, Bob Moss; and two grandchildren. His wife, Betty, whom he married in 1956, died in 2006. His first wife, Bernice, died in 1990.