Roger E. Gerkin, 70, professor emeritus in the department of chemistry at Ohio State University (OSU), died on May 23. Gerkin was born in Indiana and received his primary and secondary education in Indiana public schools. Since he was too young for military service in World War II, he proceeded directly to the University of Chicago, where he received A.B. and M.S. degrees in physical chemistry. In 1958, after completing graduate experimental work at the University of California, Berkeley, he accepted a temporary position at the University of Chicago. There, he worked with C. A. Hutchison Jr., who introduced him to the field of low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Gerkin was awarded a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from Berkeley under the guidance of K. S. Pitzer in 1960 and joined the OSU faculty in 1962.

His early interest in the structures and properties of crystalline solids led Gerkin to undertake X-ray crystallographic studies on a great variety of carefully prepared pure inorganic and organic crystals. His extensive experimental investigations in physical chemistry included thermodynamic studies of heat capacities of crystalline solids; EPR spectroscopic studies at low and high magnetic field strengths in pure and dilutely substituted single crystals; studies of triplet-state EPR spectra and of isotope effects in triplet states; crystalline disorder; phase transitions in molecular and hydrated ionic crystals; and hydrogen-bonding in crystalline organic acids and hydrated inorganic salts.

Robert Andrew Gerlicher, 93, died on Aug. 2, after a lengthy illness. He received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1928 and a M.S. degree in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1931. In 1932, he moved to Akron, Ohio, where he worked for BF Goodrich Co., Exxon (formerly Standard Oil of New Jersey), and Copolymer Chemical Corp. in Baton Rouge, La. After retiring in 1970, he worked as a consultant for several engineering firms. Gerlicher was instrumental in the development of synthetic rubber for World War II and held more than a dozen patents in the synthetic rubber and chemical industry. Joined ACS in 1938; emeritus member.

W. Alec Jordan, 87, noted chemical magazine editor, communications and business executive, and entrepreneur, died on Oct. 8 at his home in Gilford, N.H. Jordan, a 1936 bachelor's in chemistry graduate of McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, began his career as a research chemist working first with Norton Co. and then with General Motors. In 1941, he moved into sales and technical service with a Canadian chemical distributor. This brought Jordan to the attention of Chemical Industries, a monthly publication. He joined the staff of the magazine in 1946 as news editor and quickly rose to editor and finally to publisher. The magazine was purchased by McGraw-Hill in 1950, but Jordan remained on the staff. Chemical Industries soon became Chemical Industries Week, then Chemical Week, which is published today.

After leaving Chemical Week in 1957, Jordan started three businesses. The first was Alec Jordan Associates, a public relations firm that eventually merged with Manning Selvage & Lee Inc. The second company, Corporate Publications, produced publications for corporations and scientific organizations. His third company--Conference Management Inc.--was set up in 1962. That company produced a series of annual three-day conferences for technical magazine editors.

He was a longtime trustee of the Chemists Club, New York City; president and honorary director of the Société de Chimie Industrielle, American Section; chairman of the New York Section of the American Institute of Chemists; and a director of the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Joined ACS in 1953; emeritus member.

	PHOTO BY WILLIAM STORCK

Clifford L. Schrader, 63, professor of chemistry at the University of Akron, Ohio, died on Jan. 29 in his home following a brief illness. Previously the science supervisor for the Summit County Educational Service Center in Akron and a longtime chemistry teacher at Dover High School, Schrader was the program manager of the hazardous waste removal program for the Ohio Department of Education, and in this capacity he was featured in an article in C&EN (March 27, 2000, page 29).

Schrader received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D degrees from Purdue University. He authored more than 23 publications including a chemistry textbook, "Heath Chemistry," used by numerous high schools. At the time of his death, he was writing a course for the University of Akron titled "Chemistry for Everyone" for nonchemistry majors. He was a past president and a member of the ACS Akron Section and a past president of the Science Education Council of Ohio. Schrader was the Ohio representative for Teachers in Space in 1985.

Some of his awards and honors include a Fulbright scholarship in 1965, Jaycee Outstanding Young Educator in 1967, Shell Merit Fellow in 1968, Acker Outstanding Teacher in 1979, Fellow of the Ohio Academy of Science, Dreyfus Master Teacher, Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching in 1984, and Kiwanis Outstanding Teacher in 1985. Schrader also received the Dover Education Association Excellence in Teaching Award, John Vaughn Award for Excellence in Education, ACS regional teaching and James Bryant Conant Awards, and Ashland Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Joined ACS in 1985.

John H. Wotiz, 82, died on Aug. 21 in an automobile accident in Morehead, Ky., that also claimed the life of his wife, Kathryn. Wotiz was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, in 1919; he immigrated to the U.S. in 1939 and became a U.S. citizen in 1944. He studied at the Czech Polytechnicum in Prague and, after coming to the U.S., received a B.S. in chemistry from Furman University (1941), an M.S. from the University of Richmond (1943), and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University (1948). His graduate studies were interrupted in 1944 for two years of service in the Army at the close of World War II.

He started his full-time academic teaching and research career in 1948 at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1957, he became a research director with Diamond Alkali, where in five years he authored 44 U.S. and foreign patents. In 1962, he returned to academia as professor and department chairman at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. In 1967, he joined Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, as chairman of the chemistry and biochemistry department. He retired from Southern Illinois at 70 and became professor emeritus. In 1982, he received the Dexter Award of the ACS History of Chemistry Division for his outstanding contributions. In 1992, he received the gold medal from the Technical University in Ostrava, which went on in 1998 to award him an honorary doctorate. He was editor of "The Kekule Riddle: A Challenge for Chemists and Psychologists," published in 1993. Joined ACS in 1944; emeritus member.

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