the Catalyst - Philadelphia Local Section - American Chemical Society

listening to a wide variety of music, watchingmovies and raising three totally insane LhasaApsos.Magid Abou-Gharbia joins TempleUniversity’s School of Pharmacy as professorof medicinal chemistry and to lead its newCenter for Drug Discovery Research. He hada 26-year career with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals,most recently as vice president of chemicaland screening sciences.Marsha Lester, chair of the Universityof Pennsylvania’s chemistry department,was appointed the Edmund J. KahnDistinguished Professor. She joined Penn’sfaculty in 1982 and has researched novelspectroscopic methods in the field ofoxidation chemistry.Penn faculty member Amos B. SmithIII is recipient of the 2008 Royal Societyof Chemistry Simonsen lectureship. Hedelivered a number of lectures in the UKduring November.Charles N. McEwen joins the faculty ofthe University of the Sciences as the firstR. Everett Houghton Chair in chemistry.The endowed professorship is designed tosupport research-active industrial scientiststransitioning to academia.The Chemical Heritage Foundation namedShelley Wilks Gehr as its director of the RoyEddleman institute for interpretation andeducation. In this capacity she will lead thefoundation’s public outreach and educationalefforts including several publications andthe web site.DEATHSMichael C. Withiam, scientist with J. M.Huber Corp., August 7, 2007 at 52. His fieldsof activity included use of silica gel in ink jetprinting and applications of zeolites.Helmut Pessen, retired scientist formerlywith the Eastern Regional Research Center ofUSDA, June 1 st at 86. He was born in Berlinand left Germany just prior to WW II. Heworked for American Viscose, the Food &Drug Administration, and was a freelancetechnical translator. In 1963 he joined theJanuary 2009NEWS ATOMSERRC where he conducted x-ray scattering,NMR, and FTIR to study macromolecularshapes and surface technologies related toprotein function. He authored 70 technicalarticles and book chapters, and retired fromUSDA in 1993.Robert Townend, also a retired scientistformerly with ERRC, July 1 st at 86. He joinedthe USDA in the early 1950s and conductedpioneering work in the field of milk proteins.His special area was the characterization andbehavior of beta-lactoglobulin, the majorprotein of bovine whey. He retired from ERRCafter about 30 years of service.Philip George, former faculty member ofthe University of Pennsylvania, July 21 st at 88.Born in England, he was educated there andheld research positions at Leeds Universityand Cambridge. In 1955 he joined theUniversity of Pennsylvania chemistry facultyand then moved to the biology department in1972. He retired in 1987.While at Penn, George served as the firstdirector of the general honors program forundergraduates and was involved in the newlyformed history and philosophy of scienceprogram. After leaving Penn he joined aresearch group at the Fox Chase Cancer center.He also enjoyed working as a volunteer at theUniversity of Pennsylvania Museum.Estelle F. Ingenito, biochemist andepidemiologist, September 12 th at 88. Shewas working in research in the departmentof preventive medicine at Harvard MedicalSchool when her husband was transferred toPhiladelphia. She moved with him and heldseveral positions including infection controlofficer at Metropolitan Hospital, researchscientist with the Pennsylvania Departmentof health, and a lecturer and research fellowat the medical school of the University ofPennsylvania.Ingenito was an epidemiologist and clinicallaboratory director at Magee RehabilitationHospital in Philadelphia, retiring in 1998. Shealso served as a member of the Governor’sCouncil on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.Eugene J. McKee, retired chemist formerlywith Booth, Garrett & Blair, October 14 th at84. He served in the Navy during WWII andPage