My early memories of teaching and research with students

George B. Kauffman, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry (1956-1992), Guggenheim Felllow, recipient of numerous national and international awards, and a frequent contributor to the scientific literature

The Chemistry Department

The history of chemistry at CSUF goes back long before the Department of Chemistry was established in its present form in 1947. What later became Fresno State College first began as a Junior College in 1910 with eight instructors, most of them from Fresno High School. The school became a Normal School in 1911. A chemistry course (inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, qualitative analysis, or quantitative analysis) was required during both years, a curriculum retained until 1913, when the chemistry requirement was abandoned except for students deficient in the subject. The only Physical Science professor during these early years was Dr. Hiram Wheeler Edwards, who taught from 1912 to 1918 and later became a professor of physics and a textbook author at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).  

The first professor to teach chemistry exclusively was Mr. Henry J. King, who joined the Department of Physical Sciences in 1918. Until 1931 all chemistry courses were taught in the same laboratory. The storeroom was a closet at the back of the room, where the instructor was his own storeroom clerk between classes, handing out all equipment and chemicals to his students.

The early 1920s experienced a great jump in enrollment because all science instruction had been taken over from the Junior College. An inventory of students and equipment at this time reveals that 65 students were taking courses in either chemistry or physics and that the available equipment was valued at $150. Dr. Hal Draper joined Fresno State in 1922 and took over the inorganic chemistry instruction from Mr. King.

In 1928 construction began on a new science building, McLane Hall, the second building to be erected on the new college campus, now the site of Fresno City College. The building, which was dedicated in 1931, represented a tremendous improvement over the existing facilities It included six chemistry laboratories, a storeroom on each floor, and a private laboratory for each professor.

In 1935 the Fresno Normal School was chartered as a State College, and the State Department of Education recognized the regional function of the college by adding a full four-year liberal arts program, more chemistry courses, and students could choose a major in chemistry. Until World War II many students took their lower-division training at what was now called Fresno State College and transfer to the University of California and other universities for their upper-division work, and many of them continued in the graduate schools for advanced degrees. Until 1947 chemistry instruction was given under the Department of Physical Sciences, headed by Dr. Harry C. Burbridge. The administration decided at that time that there was a need for separate departments of chemistry and physics, largely because of the impetus enjoyed by these sciences during the war.     

In 1935 Dr. Robert DuBois came to Fresno State College to replace Dr. Hal Draper, who had resigned to accept a position in industry. In 1928 he and Mr. King founded and became faculty sponsors of the Beta chapter of Chi Pi Sigma National Chemistry fraternity. He died of a heart attack in 1947, just before the present Chemistry Department came into being, and was succeeded by Dr. Warren R. Biggerstaff (1918-2000) in the spring of 1948. Dr. Elton M. Baker taught chemistry at Fresno State College from 1942 to 1950.

Dr. Ennis B. Womack was appointed the first chairman of the fledgling Chemistry Department. He arrived in the fall of 1947 in time to help with the administrative reorganization that needed to be done. He was aided in this task by Dr. Raymond W. Bremner, who also joined the faculty that year. In the first year of the new department’s existence, a major in chemistry required 36 units, 20 of which had to be upper division units.

During that year the number of students taking chemistry courses was three times the enrollment of the Physical Sciences Department in 1921. The budget for 1947 was about $300, a sum insufficient for the needs of the growing department. One of the first major equipment orders was for analytical balances for the quantitative analysis courses. Because each balance cost about $400, a long-range plan for securing needed equipment was inaugurated.

In 1949 a course in Instrumental Methods of Analysis was inaugurated. Beginning that same year a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree was offered on the condition that a secondary credential also be taken. In other words, at that time the function of the graduate program was primarily to afford more specialized preparation for teaching. The number of units required for graduation was increased to 40. In 1950 Dr. Robert M. Kallo  replaced Dr. Baker, who had resigned, and Dr. David Ellsworth Clark (1950-1951; 1953-1990) joined the faculty. In 1951 instruction in nuclear chemistry and experiments with radioactive isotopes were incorporated into the physical chemistry course.

In 1954 Mr. King retired, but I still recall seeing him at faculty functions. During the later 1950s a number of new professors were added to the Chemistry Department faculty—Dr. John Leo Abernethey (1956-1959), Dr. George Bernard Kauffman (b. 1930) (1956-1992), Dr. William M. Miller (1956-1979), Dr. Gordon R. Shuck (1957-1961), Dr. Dale Charles Burtner (b. 1926) (1958-1993), and Miss Diane Stover, the department’s first female faculty member. By 1958 the department had ten full-time professors, doubling the faculty present in 1948, as well as a full-time secretary.

Figure 1

In 1955 the new McLane Hall on the Cedar and Shaw Avenues campus was dedicated, and the Chemistry Department moved in. The number of students had doubled from the 1947 totals, and at last a respectable amount of equipment was coming into the department. By the end of the first year in the new building, it became that the space allotted was insufficient to meet the demands of the thriving discipline so plans were drawn up for a new wing, which would double the existing space for the department. The wing was built and was occupied in 1961 (Figure 1).

In 1956 an active Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) chapter, with Dr. George B. Kauffman as faculty sponsor (1956-1961), was established. In 1958 a Master of Science (M.S.) degree was offered for the first time, and the department was accredited by the American Chemical Society.

Figure 2

The 1960s brought another period of expansion. Dr. Roger Gymer (1960-1963), Dr. Richard Paul Ciula (1933-2007) (1961-2001), Dr. Sydney Bluestein (b. 1934) (1963-2001), Dr. Kenneth Homer Russell (b. 1933) (1963-1996), Dr. Alexander Vavoulis (b. 1924) (1963-1994), Dr. Barrett W. Benson (1939-2004) (1966), Dr. Helen Jean Gigliotti (b. 1936) (1966-1999), Dr. Barry Hemphill Gump (b. 1940) (1967-2006), Dr. Donald Kunio Kunimitsu (b. 1937) (1967-1998), Dr. Stephen A. Rodemeyer (b. 1940) (1967), Dr. Stanley Martin Ziegler (b. 1940) (1968-2001), and Dr. David Louis Zellmer (b. 1942) (1969-2010) joined the staff.

During the intervening years, the department has grown, both in the number of courses offered and the number of faculty members (Figure 2).

The chairpersons include:

• Ennis B. Womack (1947-1961)
• Warren R. Biggerstaff (1918-2000) (1961-1965)
• Dale Charles Burtner (b. 1926) (1965-1966)
• Richard Paul Ciula (1934-2007) (1966-1970)
• Stephen A. Rodemeyer (b. 1940) (1970-1976)
• Helen Jean Gigliotti (b. 1936) (1976-1980) 
• Stanley Martin Ziegler (b. 1940) (1980-1986)
• Kenneth Homer Russell (1986-1990)
• David Louis Zellmer (b. 1942) (1990-1994)
• Howard Ken Ono (b. 1942) (1994-1998)
• Joseph Rubin Gandler (b. 1949) (1998-2002)
• Ronald Lee Marhenke (b. 1943) (2002-2006)
• David L. Frank (b. 1944) (2006-2010)
• Saeed Attar (b. 1960) (2010-)

Today, the department, under the chairmanship of Dr. Saeed Attar (b. 1960), with the capable assistance of Rosalina Messer, Administrative Support Coordinator III, comprises 28 active faculty members, 12 of whom are women.

My Memories

When I arrived in Fresno on September 1, 1956, the campus was still divided between its new (now present) site and its original site (now Fresno City College). I lived at 2117 E. Shields Ave., which was then on the northern extremity of the city. I remember walking a few blocks westward to Blackstone Avenue with my older daughter Ruth (b. January 8, 1956, now Mrs. Martin H. Bryskier) to watch the bulldozers breaking ground for the Manchester Shopping Center, the first shopping center north of the downtown city center.

Driving to school from Shields Avenue (3200 north) to the new campus (5000 north), I passed through nothing but farmland. The faculty, which numbered about 250 members, ate at a cafeteria colloquially dubbed “The Green Bean.” Now, of course, the entire city has moved northward, and the campus is no longer on the outskirts.

When I joined the faculty, it included only three other Jewish members—William (Bill) Dienstein (Sociology and Criminology), Bernard (Bernie) Shepherd (né Shapiro) (Journalism), and Herbert (Herb) Richards (Engineering). By 1970 The Chemistry Department alone had four Jews on its faculty. Similarly, in common with our entire society, the CSUF faculty and staff have expanded to include various races and ethnic groups. Today women comprise a considerable proportion of chemistry classes.

When I joined the faculty, a woman in Fresno State chemistry lectures or laboratories was a rarity. For example, my cousin, Judith Fries (now Mrs. Richard Watson) majored in chemistry from 1962 to 1966 and was often the only woman in her laboratory class. On graduation she worked on natural product chemistry at the University of Washington, from which she received her Ph.D. degree in 1971. She then taught for six years at California State Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo, worked on peptide analogue chemistry at the Tulane University Medical School with Andrew V. Schally, 1977 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, during her sabbatical year, and returned to Cal Poly for another year before returning to New Orleans to marry.

Judy recently emailed me:

As for being one of the few women in chemistry at Fresno State, I was treated no differently than any other students there in the sciences.  The professors I had were excellent teachers and I received such a great preparation for graduate school there that I was academically at the top one or two of my graduate chemistry class at the University of Washington.  It sounds as if I am tooting my own horn, but the credit really goes to Fresno State College [her boldface emphasis]. The one thing that I did was to take almost every learning advantage I could there. I chose to take the most challenging courses so that I would not be lost in graduate school, and that strategy worked because FSC offered outstanding courses and talented, caring professors to teach them.  I am proud to be a graduate of Fresno State and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to study there.

At the latest Chemistry Department graduate Recognition Banquet (May 11, 2011) half of the graduates attending were women.   

In the early 1960s I grew a beard. At the time the only other beards on campus belonged to Phillip N. Walker (Theatre Arts) and George Herman Ollikkala (Library). Phil died on March 31, 2008, and George died recently (February 4, 2011). Today beards are almost ubiquitous on campus.

Teaching and Research with Students

We all consume and enjoy the products of science every day, but the man or woman on the street usually neglects the process of science, i.e., the fundamental principles of scientific thinking by which these products are obtained. This process is usually poorly taught. Therefore through the years, in lectures or articles in journals, magazines, or newspapers, whenever I've had the opportunity, I've called attention to this dual nature of science, especially in addressing nonscientific audiences and readers. I’ve also done this in my editorial duties, as editor of the Journal of College Science Teaching (1973-2004), American Chemical Society Lectures on Tape Series (1975-1981), The Hexagon (1980-), Polyhedron (1983-1985), Industrial Chemist (1985-1988), Today’s Chemist (1989-1991), Journal of Chemical Education (“Products of Chemistry” feature, 1987-), The Chemical Intelligencer (1994-2000), Today’s Chemist at Work (1995-2003), Chemical Heritage (“Kauffman’s Chemical Corner” feature, 1996-2006), Chem 13 News (1998-), The Chemical Educator (“Chemistry and History” feature, 1998-), and Pathways of Science (2007-2010). As Contributing Editor of the “Applied Chemistry” feature of the Encyclopædia Britannica's Yearbook of Science and the Future for more than two decades (1978-2000), I annually introduced YBSF readers to the latest of such items (for example, lithium batteries, low-calorie sweeteners, low-cholesterol powdered eggs, or fat substitutes), which we now use daily and take for granted.

I’ve tried to enlighten the public about science in my more than hundred lectures at local, national, and international meetings and symposia. This work was recognized by my receiving the American Chemical Society’s Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach in 2002 (Figure 3), the same year in which I was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I’m also listed in more than 40 biographical dictionaries, including “Who’s Who in America” (1978-), “Who’s Who in the World” (1980-), and “Contemporary Authors” (1968-).

Figure 3

Although I'll mention some of my mentoring practices, I'll devote considerable space to paying tribute to some of my most outstanding student coauthors and their products — presentations at seminars and meetings, investigations in coordination chemistry, studies of the separation of geometric and optical isomers, inorganic syntheses, laboratory experiments including modification of “classic” experiments for use in undergraduate chemistry courses, historical studies, lecture demonstrations, and reviews of books and other instructional media.  I’ll also acknowledge my own mentors, who have played crucial roles in inspiring and facilitating my career.

Research as an Outgrowth of Teaching

Figure 4

As I indicated above, Fresno State began as a teacher’s college, and when I arrived, research was not encouraged, and my students and I were forced to conduct it sub rosa. Although research by graduate students has been a universally accepted activity at universities, research by undergraduate students, especially when I began my academic career, was a rare and uncommon pursuit. In the first of my 59 research grants Research Corporation supported my research with CSUF students, most of whom were undergraduates. Through the years grants followed from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, National Science Foundation, and other organizations. I also supervised undergraduates in 35 Independent Study Projects. In 1972 I organized and directed the CSUF National Science Foundation Undergraduate Participation Program, which brought talented students from around the country to our campus.  In 2000 I received the American Chemical Society Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution sponsored by Research Corporation. Today, in complete opposition to the attitude that prevailed when I first arrived in Fresno, new chemistry faculty members are encouraged and expected to carry out their own active research programs. 

Figure 5

Although in some circles research and teaching are sometimes considered as opposed, incompatible faculty functions, my research has always been an adjunct of my primary interest — teaching — rather than a goal per se.  Most of my research projects and publications evolved from work carried on in my regular classes.  Since equipment and supplies were scarce and since my time available for research was limited, I tried to pursue a realistic research program consistent with the functions and aims of our university.  Thus I augmented our supplies by seeking outside support in the form of grants.  Most of these funds were used to pay student assistants, permitting them to finance their university studies while gaining experience in their chosen fields.  I feel that it is in original research that students can best develop the ingenuity and practical application of principles that are a sine qua non for a successful career, not only in science but also in any field calling for independent thought.  In short, I tried to maintain a suitable balance between the transmission of current knowledge and techniques by teaching and the creation of new knowledge by student research.

Figure 6

In 1972 I was named a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, and in 1973 I was one of two faculty members chosen from among 16,000 in the 19-campus California State University System to be named Outstanding Professor in recognition of my “creative teaching and scholarly endeavor.” In 1976 I was one of four national winners of the Manufacturing Chemists Association Catalyst Award for excellence in College Chemistry Teaching (Figure 4). In 1993 I received the American Chemical society’s George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education (George, the ACS President who first proposed National Chemistry Day (now National Chemical Week) was born in 1922 in Fresno). In 1994 I became the first recipient of the President’s Medal of Distinction, “the highest non-degree award presented by CSUF…to citizens of the region, state or nation whose contribution in the area of professional achievements or public service are of national or international significance, or represent a contribution of great significance to the university” (Figure 5).

Of my more than 2,300 papers, reviews, and encyclopedia articles, 215 involve 75 student coauthors (Table 1). Many others include more than 150 of my colleagues as coauthors. A large number involve the love of my life, my wife Laurie, a retired elementary schoolteacher with an interest in the humanistic aspects of science, who has not only provided moral support and encouragement but who has also collaborated actively with me as a coauthor (Figure 6).

                                         My Introduction to Chemistry

At the age of six, I became intrigued with the fascinating world of chemistry. After I received my first chemistry set ($1), there was never any question as to my future career: I was hooked on chemistry—“the central science,” the subtitle of one of my 17 books. My experience is hardly unique; it’s similar to that of numerous chemists. It’s unfortunate that in our era of excessive concern with possible litigation and damage to the environment, the chemistry set, that traditional rite of passage and entry into the profession for so many  of us, has virtually disappeared.

I attribute my success to my excellent early education at the Central High School of Philadelphia, one of the nation’s oldest elite academic secondary schools, and the examples provided by my early role models.  Although I worked in depth in a few fields such as coordination chemistry, some colleagues have characterized me as a renaissance man and the “Isaac Asimov of chemistry” because of my wide interests and great prolificity. Isaac, best known for his works on science fiction and his popular science books, concluded a letter of February 16, 1985 to me, “As one prolific to another, my heartiest best wishes and may the word (or word processor) fail to drop from our nerveless fingers for many a long year.” However, I prefer to think of myself as a scientific dilettante.  Because I didn't work at a primarily research institution, I've enjoyed the luxury of working on whatever happened to strike my fancy.  While to some extent my account will be necessarily personal, I hope that this “trip down memory lane” will be of general interest, will illustrate some general principles, and may even resonate with some of your own experiences.

Figure 7

 Because at the age of seventeen I matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania in February rather than in September of 1948, I could not enroll as a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) candidate but instead had to enroll as a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) candidate.  Although this situation was purely fortuitous, I realize in retrospect that it was a lucky choice, for I was exposed to a wider curriculum of liberal arts subjects not usually taken by most chemistry majors.  I feel that this not only enriched my enjoyment of life but also made me a better teacher.  I was also extremely lucky in having the late Louis Coombes Weller Baker (1921-2003), Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Georgetown University, as my teaching assistant in general chemistry (Figure 7).  After allowing me to carry out some preliminary experiments on crystal growing, Lou introduced me to coordination chemistry by allowing me to work in his private laboratory as a freshman.  The first complex compound that I prepared, which I labeled “compound Alpha, May 7, 1948,” was the versatile intermediate, carbonatotetraamminecobalt(III) nitrate hemihydrate, [CoCO3(NH3)4]NO3.1/2H2O (Figure 8), and I still keep the bottle on the shelf by my desk as a souvenir. Lou thus weaned me (but not completely) from adolescent pyrotechnics to coordination chemistry, and in gratitude I dedicated my first book “Alfred Werner: Founder of Coordination Chemistry” (1966) to him.

Figure 8

Lou exerted a profound influence on another aspect of my career — my writing ability.  For some unfathomable reason, I had convinced myself that I was unable to write, and in my freshman English composition class I suffered from a chronic case of “writer's block.”  Three days after I had prepared compound Alpha in Lou's lab, I wrote a composition describing the experiment.  Because Lou had ruined the first run when his jury-rigged electric fan intended to accelerate evaporation of the mother liquor came crashing down onto the 3-liter evaporating dish, I referred to him under a pseudonym to protect his reputation.  The composition received an “A,” my case of writer's block was cured, and henceforth I wrote about scientific subjects — with great success.  I now realize that I was merely applying the well-known maxim of writing on subjects with which I was familiar, but Lou served as the catalyst for my transformation from hesitant amateur to prolific author.

Figure 9

I tried to repay my debt to Lou by customarily giving several of my freshman chemistry students special research projects in the belief that early discovery and encouragement of talent is one of a teacher's most important functions.  I worked with junior high and senior high students, and Jim Felser, a coauthor who worked with me when he was only fifteen, later became a medical doctor, Research Professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine, and Senior Clinical Research Physician at Novartis. Another high school student of the same age, Kenneth Barclay, also worked with me (Figure 9).  As longtime Faculty Advisor of the Fresno State College Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society, I've been able to keep in contact with former students.  In this capacity I also coached and rehearsed my student researchers in their prize-winning presentations for meetings and conventions.  For example, in April, 1960 four of our chemistry majors walked off with four of the eight top awards for outstanding research papers presented at the 11th Annual Regional Convention of the Northern California-Nevada District of the SAACS in San Francisco (Figure 10).  Robert P. Pinnell, a senior, won first prize, while Gary L. Anderson and Ronald Majors, both freshmen, won second prizes.  FSC was the only state college to place among the winners.  At other meetings my research students Dwaine O. Cowan and Larry A. Teter won second prizes.

Figure 10

The mentor of my graduate studies at the University of Florida was Professor John Franklin Baxter, Jr. (Figure 11). John was 1961 Chairman and an active member of the ACS Division of Chemical Education.  An early pioneer in television education, from 1959 to 1961 he conducted the popular “Modern Chemistry” course on NBC-TV's “Continental Classroom,” which won him the ACS's 1962 James T. Grady Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public.  As one of his TAs, I attended all his General Chemistry lectures and absorbed his philosophy, values, and methods.  Like John, I always took my General Chemistry duties very seriously, and he served as my lifelong role model.  In 1962 he received the Manufacturing Chemists Association Catalyst Award in the Teaching of College Chemistry.  He was very proud of me when I followed in his footsteps and won the same award in 1976.

Figure 11

During the academic year 1955-56 I became Instructor in the Chemistry Department at the University of Texas, Austin. On January 28, 1956 I returned to Gainesville to receive my doctorate.

I spent the summer of 1956 as a research chemist at the Humble Oil and Refining Company in Baytown, Texas, where I worked on platinum catalysts. In September, 1956 I became Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Fresno State College.  I spent the summers of 1957 and 1959 as a research chemist at the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Department of the General Electric Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I distinguished myself by leaving my classified laboratory notebook overnight on a desktop, thus endangering the entire future of the Free World.

Coordination Chemistry

While still at the University of Texas, I began work on the column chromatographic separation of geometrically isomeric coordination compounds on Linde Molecular Sieves. After my move to FSC my students and I extended the work to include other adsorbents and other techniques as well as structural studies with support of grants from Research Corporation, the National Science Foundation, and the ACS Petroleum Research Fund.  These studies were carried out by a small group of enthusiastic, dedicated students from my General Chemistry, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, or Independent Study courses, some of which were my age or older.  Notable among these students were Gary L. Anderson, Dwaine O. Cowan, Louis A. Dee, Richard A. Houghten, Jr., Edward V. Lindley, Jr., Robert K. Masters, Robin D. Myers, Louis B. Pankratz, Robert P. Pinnell, Nobuyuki Sugisaka, Larry A. Teter, Lloyd T. Takahashi, and James Hwa-san Tsai, some of whom I'll mention below.

As any researcher knows, one investigation usually leads to another. Our separation studies led us to carry out structural determinations of one of the complexes that we separated.  In all of our chromatographic column separations of square planar nonelectrolytic isomers of platinum(II) in nonaqueous solutions we found that the more polar cis isomers were adsorbed more strongly on polar adsorbents than were the less polar trans isomers.  However, we encountered an apparent exception to this behavior with a hexacoordinate octahedral complex — the two supposedly stereoisomeric forms of trichlorotris(diethyl sulfide)iridium(III), [IrCl3{(C2H5)2S}3] — which suggested to us that the configurations assigned by the original investigators on the basis of color alone might be incorrect. 

From an interpretation of spectra alone it appeared as if the original investigators were correct in their assignment of configuration.  However, I often pointed out to my students that it is risky to base conclusions on the results of only one method and that a conclusion will more probably be correct if supported by results obtained from a number of independent methods. 

Figure 12

Therefore James Hwa-san Tsai (Figure 12) of Taiwan, my first foreign student collaborator and coauthor on ten papers, who went on to become the President of chemical companies in Taiwan and Hong Kong and the Research Director of another, obtained data by a variety of independent chemical and physical measurements.  The pieces of the puzzle began to fit into place, and it slowly dawned on us that the configurational assignment of one  of the compounds was completely incorrect, an incident that illustrates not only the danger of relying on one criterion for a proof of structure but also the danger of accepting uncritically results reported in the published literature. Jim Tsai and I are especially proud of this work, and we treasure the report of one of the referees:

This paper is one of the most thoroughly documented articles I have ever had the privilege to read.  It has shown by a marvelously variegated number of techniques, both old and new, how a structure can be narrowly circumscribed without a final (most times extremely difficult) x-ray structure analysis.  The authors are to be warmly congratulated on such a fine piece of work.  Would there be more such careful research done today instead of the slipshod work that passes for research.  I most heartedly recommend its speedy publication in Inorganic Chemistry.

Figure 13

I organized and presided at the international Coordination Chemistry Centennial Symposium at the Spring, 1993 American Chemical Society National Meeting, where Linus Pauling (1904-1994), the only person to win two undivided Nobel Prizes (Chemistry, 1954; Peace, 1962) (Figure 13), best known by the public for his advocacy of vitamin C for the common cold, spoke in one of his last public appearances. Fifty-one papers were presented by speakers from 17 countries; 37 of these papers appeared in 1994 in the resulting ACS Symposium Series volume under my editorship.

                                                   Inorganic Syntheses

One of the commonest errors of beginning undergraduate researchers in their choice of a problem is to take on too much — “to bite off more than they can chew.”  Such a project is usually not continued to completion and can become a source of frustration and discouragement.  Instead, the problem should be chosen from the viewpoint of the student, not the supervising professor.  To the novice researcher any compound is “new.”  Also, as most of us can testify, without careful attention to crucial details, which are often not specified in the literature — particularly the older literature, the preparation of known compounds is rarely foolproof or reproducible. This problem led my students and me to contribute 30 syntheses to and check nine others for the journal Inorganic Syntheses.

Inorganic Syntheses fit into my research program in the following way.  Although adsorption chromatography had been used to separate a variety of isomeric organic substances, at that time the technique had been applied to only a limited number of inorganic isomers.  Because ideal isomer pairs for separation should be inert so as to minimize isomerization, we began our separations using coordination compounds of the platinum group metals, especially platinum, iridium, rhodium, and palladium.  In the course of our work we developed reproducible syntheses for more than two dozen such compounds, resulting in no less than 15 articles published in Inorganic Syntheses during the period 1960-1966.  Since much of the pioneering work on the platinum metals, one of Russia's foremost natural resources, was carried out by Russian chemists, I directed my historical interests to a series of studies of these men, which continues to this day. 

In 1969 I was the only western scientist to be honored by the USSR Academy of Sciences to contribute two articles on relations between Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev, who proposed the periodic table of the elements, and American chemists to a volume celebrating the centenary of the periodic system. In 1971 I was invited to present a paper and preside at the 13th International Congress on the History of Science in Moscow, being the only western scientist to preside at the congress. For the work of my students and me on Russian chemists and Russian chemistry I was awarded all three bronze medals and memorial diplomas by the N. S. Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences — L. A. Chugaev (1976), N. S. Kurnakov (1990), and I. I. Chernyaev (1991).

Figure 14

The very first of our inorganic syntheses (1960) exemplifies my constant admonition to students that they should not reject ideas regardless of the source.  Ideas that come to us from our subconscious need not necessarily be of the earthshaking variety that would not occur to us through our usual conscious thought processes.  Bob Pinnell (Figure 14), now Professor Emeritus of Chemistry in the Joint Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, and I were trying to devise a reproducible preparation for copper(I) iodide because the commercial product is often contaminated with adsorbed iodine.

We found that extracting the iodine formed in the reaction after the product was formed was an inefficient, tedious, and incomplete process.  One morning I awoke with the simple expedient of adding sodium thiosulfate to react with the iodine before it is liberated. No doubt I would have eventually reached this obvious conclusion by more conventional conscious thought processes.  However, the point is that I did not, and I’ve always encouraged my students to get their ideas wherever they encounter them—even from dreams.

A Citation Classic

Figure 15

In 1987 the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) designated one of our syntheses, that of cis- and trans-diamminedichloroplatinum(II), published in 1963, a “Citation Classic”—“one of the most frequently cited works in its field” (Figure 15). Our synthesis undoubtedly owes its frequent citation in the literature to the fact that the cis isomer ("cisplatin") is one of the most widely used cancer drugs.  My student coauthor, the late Dwaine O. Cowan (1935-2006) (Figure 16), Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University and 1995 CSUF Outstanding Alumnus, went on to design, synthesize, and characterize the first “organic metal.” Dwaine became an internationally recognized authority on organic solid-state chemistry, organometallic chemistry, organic photochemistry, electron transfer redox reactions, and synthesis of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium heterocyclic compounds. He was renowned as the “Father of Organic Conductors and Superconductors.”

                                                 Laboratory Experiments

Figure 16

To date 23 of our laboratory experiments have appeared in the Journal of Chemical Education and the Journal of College Science Teaching on a wide range of topics. One of our experiments, “Syntheses and Titrations of Unknown Acids” (Figure 17), with former student, Richard A. Houghten, (Figure 18) one of the founders of combinatorial chemistry, founder of six companies, CEO of four research companies, including the Torrey Pines Institute of Molecular Studies, which recently moved from San Diego to Port Saint Lucie, Florida, and 1997 CSUF Alumnus of Excellence, Entrepreneur in Residence (2003), and Top Dog Distinguished Alumnus (2005), was used for many years in our general chemistry laboratory course and published in The Freeman Library of Laboratory Separates in Chemistry.

Figure 17

It was also selected from the more than a thousand experiments that appeared in the   Journal of Chemical Education during the period 1940-1967 for reprinting in the book “Modern Experiments for Introductory College Chemistry,” described by the editors as a collection of “samplings of the provocative ideas of some of the world's most imaginative professors of chemistry.”

Figure 18

Another of our experiments involved the unusual metallo complexes, in which the central atom is  not a metal but rather a nonmetal such as sulfur, iodine, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., while the ligands contain metal atoms, such as [Ag3S]NO3 (1984, 1986). It was coauthored with Günter Bergerhoff, now Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the Universität Bonn, and CSUF student Mohammad Karbassi, formerly a Research Scientist in the Department of Surgery, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston and currently a physician at the Deaconess Clinic in Billings, Montana.

                                                     Classic Experiments

I was able to combine my interest in the history of chemistry with my interest in laboratory experiments by adapting classic historic experiments to provide reproducible experiments for the undergraduate laboratory.  Most of these required considerable modification to achieve results, and we often added our own variations, using modern techniques not available to the original discoverers.

The first classic that we adapted was Alfred Werner's resolution of the cis-amminebromobis(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) ion,  which led directly to his becoming the first Swiss Nobel laureate for chemistry in 1913.  Edward V. Lindley, Jr., now Chairman of the Chemistry Department at Fresno City College and recipient of the 1997 Gerald C. Hayward Award for Excellence in Education of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, was the student coauthor on this experiment (1974, 1976).

Figure 19

Another classic was Louis Pasteur's mechanical resolution of racemic acid, which led to the founding of stereochemistry and influenced research in a number of fields.  Robin D. Myers (Figure 19), the coauthor on this (1975) and eleven other papers, including a translation of Pasteur’s classic paper (1998) went on to become a Computer Scientist at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Principal Engineer at Versatec, Senior Scientist at Apple Research Laboratories, and an independent consultant in color science and imaging.  Our photograph of the actual enantiomeric crystals has appeared in a number of chemistry textbooks (Figure 20).

Figure 20

Figure 21

A classic that we adapted (1979) on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the original experiment (1824) was Friedrich Wöhler's synthesis of urea (CO(NH2)2)  from ammonium cyanate (NH4CNO). In 1985 Coauthor Steven H. Chooljian (Figure 21) received his M.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles Medical School.  A highly regarded Fresno specialist in internal medicine, he is now my wife's and my personal physician.

                                                     Historical Studies

My first article on the history of chemistry, a brief biography of Belgian fluorine chemist Frédéric Swarts appeared in 1955, while I was still a graduate student so it should come as no surprise that 31 of my papers with students have involved history.  These have dealt with the life and work of such chemists as James Lewis Howe, Il'ya Il'ich Chernyaev, Alfonso Cossa, Chaim Weizmann, and the pseudochemist, the Comte de Saint-Germain; contributions of ancients and alchemists; jade in Chinese alchemy; and a history of the CSUF Chemistry Department.

I spent 1983 in Europe with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a most unusual occurrence for a scientist, and Svenska Institutet (the Swedish Institute) gathering material for my research project, “A Humanist Genius as Amateur Scientist: August Strindberg’s Chemical and Alchemical Studies and Their Influence on His literary and Dramatic Productions.”  

Figure 22

The all-time publication record for a single Kauffman student coauthor to date (18 publications), is held not by a chemistry major but by a psychology major and former television producer, Isaac Mayo, who attended Cornell University's College of Veterinary Science after his graduation from CSUF.  After an examination on which I asked students to balance several redox equations, Isaac wrote me a one-page note, complaining that I had said that redox reactions would not be included on the exam, a misunderstanding on his part. I was amazed by the quality of his writing and asked him if he wished to collaborate on a number of topics on which I been unable to find the time to write.  He agreed, and in addition to historical topics we also interviewed contemporary chemists such as Nobel laureates Linus Pauling, Melvin Calvin, and Glenn T. Seaborg (Figure 22).  One of the articles that we published from 1993 to 1998) on the shape-retaining alloy Nitinol, “The Metal with a Memory,” was chosen by Forbes, Inc. of New York from the hundreds of articles that have appeared through the years in American Heritage of Invention & Technology for inclusion in a special collection of six articles sent as a premium to all new subscribers to the magazine.

My research in the history of chemistry and of science brought me the Dexter Award “for meritorious services over a long period of time which have resulted in the advancement of the history of chemistry” (1978), the Marc-Auguste Pictet Medal of the Société de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle de Genève (1992), and a Laudatory Decree from the Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the occasion of my 70th birthday (2000).

                                             Lecture Demonstrations

Figure 23

Figure 24

When former students return to visit, they invariably recall my lecture demonstrations, usually of the more spectacular or dangerous variety, even though more than half a century has elapsed (Figures 23-25).  At the beginning of each semester I customarily ask students in my general chemistry class to volunteer to prepare lecture demonstrations.  Not only do they learn chemistry, but they also gain experience in public speaking, for I have them make the actual presentation before the class.

The Chinese claim that one picture is worth 10,000 words. Along with demonstrations, I made extensive use of molecular models to clarify points of stereochemistry and the shape of molecules (Figure 26).

Figure 25

Figure 26

My first publication with a student was a short note published in 1958, coauthored with Charles R. Hall, who, after graduation, became our Storeroom Supervisor.  Like many of our publications, it was basically the result of a simple idea.  Instability has prevented the advance preparation of large quantities of solutions for the iodine clock reaction, one of my favorite demonstrations since I first saw it as an adolescent at a science demonstration on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In our modification, instead of adding the sulfuric acid to the sodium sulfite-starch solution, we either added it to the potassium iodate solution or added it separately at the time of the demonstration as a third solution.  In both cases, after standing for as long as a year, these solutions still produced sharp color changes.  In the course of our work we found that a fungus, identified as Phycomyces nitens, could grow in sulfuric acid solutions!

Figure 27

Figure 28

This was the first of 28 demonstrations published with students on a variety of topics. Three of these demos were selected for reprinting in George Gilbert's book, “Tested Demonstrations in Chemistry and Selected Demonstrations from the Journal of Chemical Education.”  Several of them—those with Debbie Olivia Diaz (Figure 27) and Kin Sing Yen (Figure 28) —were carried out during my service in 1990 as a Faculty Research Mentor in CSUF's Minority Undergraduate Summer Enrichment (MUSE) program.  None of them require exotic reagents or complicated apparatus and are especially suitable for use by instructors in colleges with limited facilities, equipment, or financial resources.

                               Book and Instructional Media Reviews

During my college years I utilized the time spent in hiking the five miles each way to the Penn campus either in memorizing operatic arias or in studying from cards containing lecture notes. I've continued this practice in modified form to the present day.  Except for my daily recumbent bike ride and weight lifting and balance exercises following open heart surgery (aortic valve replacement, colloquially called a “valve job”) and an ischemic stroke, my regular exercise consists of daily 30-minute morning walks during which I manage to read and walk our dog, Princess Kauffman. To date I've bumped into only a Winnebago and a boat trailer.  For those who wonder how I've been able to review more than 800 books and articles, this is my secret modus operandi.  Recently, I've also involved students in these reviews to instill in them the pro bono publico professional obligation of scientists to review new works in their field. Because the younger generation is more knowledgeable about and adept about computers than I, I’ve tried to recruit them to review CD-ROMs and other electronic media in The Chemical Educator and other journals.  This is an area in which I'm a relative novice but in which I’m slowly acquiring experience.

A Chemical Poem

In the Fall of 1979, while auditing a Poetry Writing course taught by Professor Charles G. (“Chuck”) Hanzlicek at CSUF, I wrote a poem, using the metaphor of my first coordination compound to summarize the changes in me during the course of my career and to pay tribute to my mentor Lou Baker:

Compound Alpha: Ode to a Complex Salt [CoCO3NH3)4]NO3.1/2H2O

“There and Back Again”, Bilbo Baggins’ original title for the Hobbit—J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

I

It sits in a small, squat bottle on my office shelf,

A dull, brick-red, free-flowing powder,

Carefully labeled in a meticulous adolescent hand,

“Compound Alpha, May 10, 1948.”

First member of a growing collection of colorful substances,

Created with an endless parade of student protégés,

Now mature scientists scattered God knows where,

Today faceless names long since departed…

A partial payment of my debt to Lou.

II

The heavy metal fire door clanged shut behind us,

As Lou and I entered that part of the Harrison lab where freshmen never go.

In his apparatus-clogged office, bereft of human artifacts,

Save a solitary rose in a water-filled flask,

Through which the sunlight, the same glinting off his thick, rimless specs,

Cast a spectrum of the white pages of our prep book,

With growing excitement, we began our joint work.

He, the graduate assistant, towering over me, physically and intellectually,

And I, the admiring spellbound novice, obeying his commands and gesticulations;

Together we made the salt now gracing my shelf…

No wonder I dedicated my first book to him!

 

I used my work with Lou to write my first composition,

Breaking my defeatist conviction that I couldn’t write prose;

Like Cyrano, I spoke in my own voice for the very first time.

Before, I had others write my English compositions;

I even copied one from a book (Mea culpa!).

It only earned a “B”: Imagine that!

And now, years later, I turn to that first experiment again

To try my hand at poetry.

III

That salt was the color of dried blood,

Reason enough for me to make it.

I knew nothing of its properties, uses, or reactions,

Its crucial role in the coordination theory

Erected single-handedly by Alfred Werner,

My future scientific hero, whose story I would someday tell,

After a year’s ferreting out the tale from his Nachlass,

In Zürich, that quaint medieval town on the banks of the Limmat.

 

That sheltered Jewish boy from Philly

Never dreamed where that salt would lead him,

Surprising his most unrealistic fantasies,

Honored and lionized on three continents,

Presenting a seminar in the shadow of Berkley’s campanile,

Quizzed by a Nobel laureate;

Chairing a session in Moscow, while glancing out the window

At the gilded onion domes of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godounov;

Lecturing in lush, rain-soaked Nikko,

Near the temple of the three monkeys

(See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil);

All this swirled like a genie

From that little magic bottle.

IV

Trapped within each molecule of carmine crystals,

Hidden to the eye, ear, nose, and tongue,

Invisibly sleep four molecules of ammonia,

Slumbering harmlessly for more than three decades,

Yet capable of expanding to liters of caustic, toxic gas

Upon the liberating touch of heat or chemicals.

The quintessence of stability…

I wish that I could be so stable!

 

And yet would I really want to trade my life today,

To be seventeen once more, awkward and uncertain,

Dreading the future, assuming the worst?

The salt still stands upon my shelf, unchanged by time,

Exactly the same in weight and color and form

As when I poured it into its container through a paper funnel,

Careful not to lose a grain of my precious prize;

Give ’em Hell Harry was president then,

And a watergate was just an irrigation device.

***

Yes, the mutable boy has changed; the stable salt has not.

From a dead, inert compound he has forged his life.

                                                           Conclusion

In conclusion, I acknowledge the role of chance in my life and want to assure you that I didn’t carry out these researches with students with any great plan or philosophy in mind. They were largely—to use the late English historian Arnold Toynbee’s expression—“O.D.T.A.A.”—one damned thing after another.  My students and I merely followed where each successive problem led us.  Our only secret—if there is a secret—is our persistence.  And if you follow our example, adapting our method to the specific conditions of your own particular institution, interests, and situation, you too can achieve the same results. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

TABLE 1.  CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF STUDENT COAUTHORS AND THE NUMBERS OF THEIR PAPERS

• Charles R. Hall, 2.
• Robert P. Pinnell, 5.
• Larry A. Teter, 6.
• Dwaine O. Cowan, 4.
• Jerome S. Blank, 1.
• Lloyd T. Takahashi, 8.
• James Hwa-san Tsai, 10.
• Kenneth L. Stevens, 2.
• Nobuyuki Sugasaka, 5.
•  Guillermo Acero, 1.
•  Richard A. Houghten, Jr., 5.
•  Gary Foust, 1.
•  Peggy Tun Yin, 1.
•  Paul F. Vartanian, 2.
•  Richard A. Albers, 2.
•  Fred L. Harlan, 2.
•  Zie Anna Payne, 5.
•  Russell Fuller, 1.
•  James Felser, 1.
•  Edward V. Lindley, Jr., 2.
•  Gary L. Anderson, 2.
•  Stanley E. Gordon, 1.
•  Michael F. Citro, 1.
•  Leslie W. Michael, 1.
•  Shan Yaw Lee, 1.
•  Lily Hu Chow, 1.
•  Robin D. Myers, 12.
•  Brian D. Stedjee, 5.
•  Robert Epperson, 1.
•  G. Wayne Craig, 13
•  Johanna Koob, 3.
•  Davey Faoro, 1.
•  Steven F. Abbott, 1.
•  Stephen E. Clark, 1.
•  John M. Gibson, 1.
•  Robert K. Masters, 1.
•  Paul R. Schabinger, 1.
•  Michael J. Sinwell, 1.
•  Steven H. Chooljian, 7.
•  Robert J. Broughten, 2.
•  Robert Toll, 2.
•  Lawrence Y. Fang, 1.
•  Christine Miller, 1.
•  Leo Kim, 1.
•  Dean F. Marino, 1.
•  Mohammad Karbassi, 5.
•  Jack D. Jackson, 3.
•  Ronald D. Ebner, 6.
•  John Hagopian, 3.
•  Craig A. Ferguson, 3.
•  Paul S. Chin Sang, 1.
•  Mark A. Gilmore, 1.
•  Philip Chu, 1.
•  Scott D. Stringer, 2.
•  Matthew L. Adams, 6.
•  Jonathan Buchanan, 1.
•  Ester Molayem, 2.
•  Stewart W. Mason, 1.
•  Kin Sing Yen, 4.
•  Debbie Olivia Diaz, 4.
•  Scott D. Pennington, 4.
•  Isaac Mayo, 18.
•  Malrubio Cabrera II, 1.
•  Rocky Dean Gipson, 1.
•  Eric Alvin Haynie, 1.
•  Brian Ampère Smith, 1.
•  Ching Kin Yim, 1.
•  Judith M. Reposo, 1.
•  Mario L. Reposo, 1.
•  Likins, Robert E., 1.
•  Philip L. Posson, 1.
•  Hiram William Blanken, 11.
•  Rowena Rege, 1.
• Brian Fischer, 7.
• Anastacia Melendy, 6.

_________________________________________________________________________________

FIGURE CAPTIONS 

FIGURE 1. FRESNO STATE CHEMISTRY FACULTY, OCTOBER, 1960.  DRS. WILLIAM M. MILLER, ROBERT M. KALLO, WARREN R. BIGGERSTAFF, DALE C. BURTNER, ENNIS B. WOMACK, GORDON SHUCK, ROGER GYMER, GEORGE B. KAUFFMAN, DAVID E. CLARK, AND RAYMOND W. BREMNER (LEFT TO RIGHT).

FIGURE 2. FRESNO STATE CHEMISTRY FACULTY, 1978.  DRS. DALE C. BURTNER, STANLEY M. ZIEGLER, HELEN J. GIGLIOTTI, AND WARREN R. BIGGERSTAFF (SITTING, LEFT TO RIGHT); DRS. SYDNEY BLUESTONE, RICHARD P. CIULA, DAVID L. FRANK, RAYMOND W. BREMNER, DONALD K. KUNIMITSU, RONALD L. MARHENKE, DAVID L. ZELLMER, BARRY H. GUMP, ROBERT M. KALLO, KATHLEEN STELTING, JOE D. TONEY, GEORGE B. KAUFFMAN, STEPHEN A. RODEMEYER, HOWARD K. ONO, ALEXANDER VAVOULIS, WILLIAM M. MILLER, AND KENNETH H. RUSSELL (STANDING, LEFT TO RIGHT).

FIGURE 3. HELEN MURRAY FREE (RIGHT) AND I (LEFT) AT THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY MEETING (BOSTON, AUGUST 20, 2002), WHERE SHE PRESENTED ME WITH THAT YEAR’S HELEN M. FREE AWARD FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH. ON OCTOBER 16, 2007 I WAS PRIVILEGED TO RETURN THE FAVOR WHEN I INTRODUCED HER IN FRESNO, WHERE SHE ADDRESSED OUR ACS SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SECTION ON “THE DIABETES EPIDEMIC.”

FIGURE 4. MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS ASSOCIATION CATALYST AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN COLLEGE CHEMISTRY TEACHING MEDAL, 1976.

FIGURE 5. CSUF PRESIDENT’S MEDAL OF DISTINCTION, FIRST RECIPIENT, 1994.

FIGURE 6. LAURIE (RIGHT) AND I (LEFT, WITH AWARD PLAQUE). I RECEIVED THE AWARD FOR RESEARCH AT AN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION SYMPOSIUM, 219TH NATIONAL MEETING, AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 28-APRIL 2, 2000.

FIGURE 7. LOUIS C. W. BAKER (RIGHT) AND I (LEFT) ON THE OCCASION OF MY RECEIVING THE AWARD FOR RESEARCH AT AN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION, 219TH NATIONAL MEETING, AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 28-APRIL 2, 2000. 

FIGURE 8.  MY FIRST COORDINATION COMPOUNDS, 1948. COMPOUND ALPHA ON FAR RIGHT.

FIGURE 9. FIFTIETH PAPER WITH STUDENTS.  STEVEN F. ABBOTT, KENNETH BARCLAY (AGE 15), ROBIN D. MYERS, AND I (LEFT TO RIGHT).  THE FRESNO GUIDE, DECEMBER 10, 1975.

FIGURE 10.  CHEMISTRY MAJORS WIN SAACS AWARDS.  I, RONALD MAJORS, MELVIN LINDBECK, ROBERT P. PINNELL, AND GARY L. ANDERSON (LEFT TO RIGHT).  THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, APRIL 27, 1960.

FIGURE 11.  JOHN F. BAXTER (LEFT) CONGRATULATES ME (RIGHT) ON RECEIVING MY DOCTORATE, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, GAINESVILLE, JANUARY 28, 1956.

FIGURE 12.  JAMES HWA-SAN TSAI, I, AND EISHIN KYUNO (KANAZAWA UNIVERSITY) (LEFT TO RIGHT), 10TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COORDINATION CHEMISTRY, NIKKO, JAPAN, SEPTEMBER, 1967.

FIGURE 13.  WEARING HIS TRADEMARK BERET, NONAGENARIAN NOBEL LAUREATE LINUS PAULING (LEFT), WHO SPOKE AT MY COORDINATION CHEMISTRY CENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM, CHATS WITH ME (RIGHT), 205TH NATIONAL MEETING, AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, DENVER, COLORADO, MARCH 29, 1993. 

FIGURE 14. ROBERT P. PINNELL (RIGHT) AND I (LEFT) IN MY STUDY AT MY 80TH BIRTHDAY PARTY, FRESNO, 2010. NOTICE HOW WE’VE CHANGED IN THE 50 YEARS SINCE 1960 (COMPARE THIS FIGURE WITH FIGURE 10). TIME MARCHES ON!

FIGURE 15. DWAINE COWAN’S AND MY “CITATION CLASSIC,” CURRENT CONTENTS: PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, & EARTH SCIENCES, 23(6), 20 (FEBRUARY 8, 1988).

FIGURE 16. DWAINE O. COWAN (1935-2006).

FIGURE 17. DEE DALTON, ROBERT L. MASTERS, AND I (LEFT TO RIGHT) WATCH RICHARD A. HOUGHTEN, JR. PERFORM A TITRATION, ABOUT 1967.

FIGURE 18.  HERE I’M CONGRATULATING RICHARD A. HOUGHTEN, JR. (RIGHT), WHO HOLDS HIS SAN DIEGO SECTION, AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY’S 1997 DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST AWARD PLAQUE, SAN DIEGO, MARCH 13, 1997. NOTICE HOW WE’VE CHANGED IN THE THREE DECADES SINCE 1967 (COMPARE THIS FIGURE WITH THE PRECEDING ONE).

FIGURE 19. HERE I’M EXPLAINING THE STRUCTURE OF RACEMIC ACID TO ROBIN D. MYERS (RIGHT), 1975.

FIGURE 20. OUR CRYSTALS OF d- AND l-TARTARIC ACID THAT WE MECHANICALLY RESOLVED (WITH TWEEZERS) FROM RACEMIC ACID, 1975.

FIGURE 21.  STEVEN H. CHOOLJIAN, M.D., FORMER RESEARCH STUDENT AND NOW LAURIE’S AND MY LONGTIME FRIEND AND PERSONAL PHYSICIAN, MID-1990s.

FIGURE 22. NOBEL LAUREATE GLENN T. SEABORG (1912-1999), WHO DISCOVERED TEN TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS, INCLUDING PLUTONIUM, AND FOR WHOM SEABORGIUM WAS NAMED (CENTER), IN HIS LAWRENCE BERKELEY LABORATORY OFFICE DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH ISAAC MAYO (LEFT) AND ME (RIGHT), JULY 28, 1993.

FIGURE 23. SODIUM-WATER EXPLOSION OUTSIDE McLANE HALL, CSUF (ONE OF MANY SUCH DEMONSTRATIONS), 1970s.

FIGURE 24.  MOLE DEMONSTRATION, 1987.

FIGURE 25. HERE I WAS DEMONSTRATING THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF A SUPERSATURATED SOLUTION OF SODIUM ACETATE, FSC DAILY COLLEGIAN, 1966.

FIGURE 26. I FREQUENTLY USED MOLECULAR MODELS IN LECTURE TO TEACH STEREOCHEMISTRY.

FIGURE 27.  DEBBIE OLIVIA DIAZ (RIGHT) SHOWS ME (LEFT) HOW LITHIUM CARBONATE PRECIPITATES FROM A SATURATED SOLUTION ON WARMING, THE OPPOSITE OF THE BEHAVIOR OF MOST SALTS.

FIGURE 28.  KIN SING YEN DEMONSTRATES THE LIMELIGHT.