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Rosa Mines Segrè Rosa Mines Segrè, widow of Nobel Prize winning physicist Emilio G. Segrè, died in Rome, Italy, Nov. 19, from injuries suffered when struck by a car in Tivoli five days earlier. Segrè, who was in her 60s, lived in Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, and was visiting Italy at the time of her death. Following the death of her husband in 1989, Segrè maintained close ties with the physics department and was instrumental in finding speakers for the annual Segrè Lecture, first instituted in 1987. She played a major role in editing Emi- lio's autobiography. She also spearheaded efforts to produce a Smithsonian traveling exhibition on American Nobel Laureates. Emilio Segrè, a native of Italy, was a world-renowned physicist and faculty member who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Berkeley physicist Owen Chamberlain in 1959 for discovery of the antiproton. Born in Paraguay, Rosa Segrè is survived by a sister Diana and a brother Bernardo, both of Montevideo, Uruguay, and two stepdaughters, Amelia Segrè Terkel of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Fausta Segrè Walsby of Bristol, England. Gifts in Rosa Segrè's memory may be made to the Save the Redwoods League, 114 Sansome Street, Room 605, San Francisco, CA 94104-3814. Kenneth Pitzer A memorial service will be held Sunday, Jan. 25, for Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer, former dean of the College of Chemistry and past president of Rice and Stanford universities, who died Dec. 26. The service will be held at 2 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Faculty Club. Pitzer died of heart failure after a brief illness at Alta Bates Medical Center. The 83-year-old Pitzer had a long history on campus-spanning from 1935, when he came to work on his PhD in chemistry, until his retirement as professor emeritus of chemistry in 1984. In between he served as president of Rice University in Houston for eight years (1961-68), and subsequently served briefly as president of Stanford University (1968-70). A member and past chair of the National Academy of Sciences, Pitzer was well known for his work in physical and theoretical chemistry. "He was a world-class physical chemist who did exceptional work on the theory of predicting the thermodynamic properties of molecules," said Alexis T. Bell, dean of the College of Chemistry. "His work has tremendous fundamental research importance and is also essential in predicting the behavior of materials used in industrial processes." Pitzer served his country as technical director of the Maryland Re- search Laboratory during World War II and as director of research at the Atomic Energy Commission from 1949 until 1951. From 1958 to 1965, he served on the General Advisory Committee of the AEC, and from 1960 to 1962 as committee chair. During his years with the AEC he guided the national laboratories into their peacetime relationships with the AEC and established an AEC program supporting relevant basic research at universities and laboratories around the country. As dean of the College of Chemistry during the '50s, he led the effort to provide modern laboratory facilities to accommodate postwar expansion of the college's program, played a key role in establishing chemical engineering as a department and obtained state support for construction of Latimer and Hildebrand halls. His numerous honors and awards included the National Medal of Science in 1975, the Priestley Memorial Medal of the American Chemical Society in 1969, the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Chemists in 1976 and the Berkeley Citation in 1984. In addition he was a life trustee of Pitzer College, one of the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, Calif. His father, Russell K. Pitzer, was a leader in the development of the Claremont Colleges, helping found Harvey Mudd, Claremont Men's College and Pitzer College. Over the past 31 years Kenneth Pitzer provided generous support for a number of programs and scholarships at Pitzer College. On the Berkeley campus he was honored in 1994 with the naming of the Kenneth S. Pitzer Auditorium, a large lecture hall located in Latimer Hall. The enthusiasm with which Pitzer engaged in research was replicated in his leisure activities-sailing in particular. He designed and constructed several boats and was licensed by the Coast Guard as a boat designer and builder. Pitzer is survived by his wife Jean Mosher Pitzer of Kensington; three children, Ann E. Pitzer of San Diego, Russell M. Pitzer of Columbus, Ohio, and John S. Pitzer of McLean, Va.; and five grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the Kenneth S. Pitzer Fund, College
of Chemistry, Latimer Hall, UC Berkeley, 94720-1460. |