Congratulations to William E. Buhro

Professor Buhro has distinguished himself through an ambitious research agenda that focuses on nanoscience and materials chemistry. His interests range from synthetic inorganic and materials chemistry to metallic nanoparticles, nanowire and nanotube growth mechanisms, and nanocrystalline/nanocomposite structural materials. Two areas of recent focus include semiconductor quantum wires and the influence of geometric dimensionality on quantum confinement, and electrical transport in boron-based nanowires. He collaborates extensively with faculty colleagues in both the School of Engineering and the Department of Physics. He has helped to develop the Center for Materials Innovation, where he is Associate Director. The National Science Foundation named him a Presidential Young Investigator Award winner from 1991-1996. He has published more than 90 papers in referred journals, including early articles in the then-nascent field of materials chemistry. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Monsanto Chemical Company, Eastman Kodak Company, Emerson Electric Company, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, to name a few.

Students and faculty alike give Professor Buhro consistently strong marks and high praise for teaching. He has taught a wide range of courses, including General Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Solid State and Materials Chemistry, and Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. Words like “exemplary,” “legendary,” “enthusiastic,” and “challenging” populate his student evaluations. In addition to two teaching awards given by Arts & Sciences students, Emerson Electric Company presented him with their Excellence in Teaching Award in 1996. Besides teaching in the classroom, Professor Buhro mentors numerous students and formally advises others.

The Department of Chemistry has benefited from Professor Buhro’s selfless service as both member and chair of faculty search committees, the Graduate Admissions Committee, and the Library Committee. He has served on the University’s Faculty Senate and currently chairs the Hilltop Committee on Research Integrity. Well-known in both national chemistry and nanoscience circles, Professor Buhro is an active member of the academic community beyond Washington University. He is Associate Editor of Chemistry of Materials and has served on editorial boards of several periodicals. He is a reviewer for multiple journals and funding agencies and is a frequently invited lecturer at institutions across the country. He has held many leadership positions in various professional organizations including the American Chemical Society, and has helped organize several workshops, symposia, and conferences.

Professor Buhro’s B.A. is from Hope College and his Ph.D. is from the University of California Los Angeles. He held the Chester Davis Research Fellowship at Indiana University for two years before joining Washington University in 1987.

Arts & Sciences is grateful to John F. McDonnell for his ongoing commitment to excellence among faculty. Mr. McDonnell served as Chairman of the Board of McDonnell Douglas from 1988 until its merger with The Boeing Company in the fall of 1997. Currently he serves on Boeing’s Board of Directors. He has also served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and has served on the Board of Ralston Purina Company. As Director of the James S. McDonnell Foundation and Chairman of the McDonnell Douglas Foundation, he has helped guide the family’s and the corporation’s support for many educational, cultural, and civic endeavors. At Washington University, Mr. McDonnell has held the position of Chairman of the Board of Trustees (he currently serves as Vice Chair), and continues to contribute his leadership and support as a member of various Trustee committees. He also was the Founding Chairman of the Arts & Sciences National Council, of which he is still an active member. He and his wife, Anne, are life members of the University’s William Greenleaf Eliot Society, and sustaining charter members of the Society’s Danforth Circle.

George E. Pake joined the faculty at Washington University after graduating from Harvard University. During his first year as an assistant professor, he wrote an article on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), then a new technique (late 1940’s). This paper became an instant classic and served as a predictor of Professor Pake’s forthcoming success. Except for a brief six-year tenure as professor of physics at Stanford, Pake’s entire academic career was spent at Washington University, where he chaired the Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences from 1952-1960 and served as Provost from 1962-1970. Professor Pake played a major role in Washington University’s growth into an internationally renowned institution. He worked tirelessly to recruit and retain excellent faculty to the University in areas as diverse as computer science, engineering, and biology. He was active on a number of governmental committees based in Washington D.C. and served on the University of Rochester’s Board of Directors. In 1970, he left the University to create the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) at the Xerox Corporation, now a world-famous institution responsible for developments like the first personal computer, the laser printer, the electronic mail system (e-mail), and area network technology (i.e. Ethernet). Pake left PARC in 1978 to oversee Xerox’s Corporate Research; in 1986 he became Director of the Institute for Research on Learning (Palo Alto), and in 1991 he was named Director Emeritus of the Institute. Awards and citations are numerous: in 1987, he received the National Medal of Science from President Ronald Reagan; in 1995, Washington University granted him an honorary doctor of science degree for his contributions to the University and the field of science. Pake died in 2004.