C&EN: PEOPLE - Obituaries

Roy M. Adams, a chemistry professor retired from Pennsylvania's Geneva College, died on March 26 at the age of 83.

A son of missionary parents, Adams was born on Cheuug C

ADAMS

hau, an island off the coast of Hong Kong. The family later moved to Apache, Okla., where Adams spent the rest of his childhood years.

Adams graduated summa cum laude from Sterling College in Sterling, Kan., and was awarded an ACS scholarship to attend the University of Kansas. There he received a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1949. In the midst of his studies, World War II was raging, and Adams joined the U.S. Naval Air Reserve, serving as a copilot and navigator from 1943 to 1946.

Upon graduation, Adams joined the faculty at Geneva, where he enjoyed a 39-year career. In 1957, he was appointed chairman of the chemistry department. Under his leadership, the department was approved by the ACS Committee on Professional Training. In addition to his academic duties, Adams served as a consultant to nearby Callery Chemical; the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio; and the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, Mo.

For more than 35 years, Adams dedicated his spare time to developing standards for chemical nomenclature. He was a past chairman of the Nomenclature Committee of the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry and of the Inorganic Nomenclature Subcommittee of the National Research Council.

In 1966, Adams represented NRC as an observer at the meeting of the Inorganic Nomenclature Commission of the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry. The following year, he was elected a titular member of IUPAC, serving as one of two U.S. representatives on the commission that works to standardize international names for chemical compounds. He is now recognized as being largely responsible for the 1961 IUPAC rules on boron nomenclature.

Adams retired from Geneva in 1985, but he continued to teach part-time until his death. He is survived by his wife, Madelyn; four sons; eight grandchildren; and a sister. Joined ACS in 1946; emeritus member.

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Roger L. Garrett, the founding chief of the Environmental Protection Agency's Industrial Chemistry Branch, died on March 31 of lung cancer at the age of 67.

Born in Collegeville, Pa., Garrett earned his bachelor's and master's degrees as well as a doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University. He then served in the Army, working at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Garrett spent 27 years at EPA working on toxicology issues. At the agency, he directed an innovative chemicals review program that helped establish the concept of "green chemistry" as a form of pollution control. He also coedited one of the first books on the subject. Before leaving EPA, he directed a guidelines program for acute chemical exposure.

Most recently, Garrett served as president for two independent laboratories in the Washington, D.C., area, where he worked on projects such as developing analytical methods for identifying pesticides in foods. He also contributed to the modern understanding of livestock nutrition by inventing new methods for calculating the energy value of foods.

Garrett is survived by his wife, Susan; three daughters; three grandchildren; and four brothers and a sister. Joined ACS in 1984.

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Thomas J. Haley, a toxicologist retired from the Food & Drug Administration, died on March 19 of a heart attack. He was 89.

Born in Minnesota, Haley attended the University of Southern California, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in pharmacy. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Florida in 1945.

During his career, Haley held professorships at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine; the University of Hawaii School of Medicine; and the University of California, Los Angeles. He also served as chief of the division of pharmacology and toxicology at UCLA's Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine & Radiation Biology.

Before joining FDA, Haley worked as a group leader for pharmacology-toxicology at Research Triangle Institute and later as chief of the acute/subacute studies division as well as assistant to the director for publications and foreign affairs at the National Center for Toxicological Research.

Haley retired to Oceanside, Calif., in 1985. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jeanne, and is survived by two daughters, three grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and a brother. Joined ACS in 1941; emeritus member.

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Paul Zindel, a former chemistry teacher who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, died on March 27 of cancer. He was 66.

Born on Staten Island and raised in various parts of New York City, Zindel was also a prolific writer of fiction for teenagers, and he drew much of his literary inspiration from his own childhood. His father abandoned the family when he was still young, leaving his mother, a licensed nurse, to provide for him and his older sister. She worked additional jobs as a hot dog vendor, shipyard laborer, and dog breeder, and at one time she boarded several dying patients from her nursing practice.

With his family moving an average of once or twice a year, Zindel relied on his imagination for companionship, performing puppet and ghost shows for himself that allowed him to express feelings that he kept hidden from family and peers.

Zindel began writing plays and sketches in high school but decided to study chemistry in college. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1958 and a master's degree in 1959 in chemistry from Wagner College. He then worked briefly as a technical writer for a chemical company before becoming a high school teacher. He taught chemistry for 10 years and continued writing during his spare time.

In 1965, his play "The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" was produced for the first time in Houston. It told the story of a girl with an abusive mother and impressionable sister who compares her science experiment growing marigolds under radiation to her own family situation. The play moved to an off-Broadway venue in 1970 and was transplanted to Broadway in 1971, where it received much critical acclaim, including the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

On the encouragement of an editor who saw a TV version of "Gamma Rays" in 1966, Zindel began writing novels for teenagers. His books also met with critical success and have been praised for treating modern teenage issues with candor and sensitivity.

Zindel is survived by his former wife, Bonnie; two children; and an older sister.

Obituaries are written by Victoria Gilman. Obituary notices may be sent by e-mail to v_gilman@acs.org and should include detailed educational and professional history.