Rick McGriff was born in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1935. There, he attended elementary and high school. He graduated from Florida A&M University (FAMU) in 1955 with a BS in Chemistry. His next move was to Pasadena, where he enrolled in the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Rick joined the ACS while he was a full time graduate student at Caltech. His work was the subject of two publications and he was awarded a M.S. in Chemistry in 1959.Rick’s first industrial job was at Riker Laboratories in Northridge, California. His interest was identifying compounds which control high blood pressure (hypertension).
Jerome Berson was a consultant at Riker Laboratories. When Berson moved his research team to Wisconsin, Rick accompanied him, and in 1967 earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in physical organic chemistry. His thesis described the synthesis of strained bicyclic hydrocarbons.
Rick joined Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware, where he worked on a variety of resins and polymers used in inks and adhesives.
In 1973, he began work at Xerox, and he retired from Xerox in 2001. He is a co-inventor on two patents. He worked on a variety of special elastomers and provided chemical analyses to support the development of new copier products. He investigated rheology of polymers, and consulted internally on reprographic materials problems.
Rick began in the Special Materials Area in 147 compounding rubber for fuser, bias transfer, and paper handling rolls.
Rick recalls several times when he took the early flight to LaGuaurdia Airport, drove to New Jersey, and worked all day in a vendor’s plant. Then he drove to the airport for an evening flight to Rochester and carried the prototype rolls to a project meeting in Henrietta the next morning.
That was his introduction to Product Engineering on the 9200 duplicator program.
In 1978, Rick transferred to the Materials Analysis Area in 139, where he remained throughout a reorganization and name change to the Chemical Analysis Area. He worked with Connie Murphy on the specifications for “Third Generation” or AMAT based products. This work was part of the photoreceptor technology used today in high speed copiers and duplicators.
Rick counts his participation in the 5090 Toner Product delivery Team in 1988 as one of the high points of his career. He was able to pursue in great breadth and depth the characterization of all the toner materials using thermal techniques. As often happen in complex material problems, the particular applications only served to exclude tantalizing leads. The problem solving team did resolve the problems.
Another highlight of Rick’s career was his first computer course in 1977. This was the start of activity in computer aided chemistry. “At one time,” he remembers, “we built our own interface boards.”
Rick ended his career in the Rheological Characterization Group.
This work crossed boundaries of new product platforms and old established products. Testing, problem solving, and writing specifications involved international partners in addition to Product Development and Delivery Teams.
The Program for Rochester Students interested in Science and Math (PRISSM) seeks to encourage minority youth to pursue careers in Engineering and Science. He volunteers with the PRISSM Science and Math competitions among the Rochester High Schools. The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the National Science Bowl competition. The National Organization of Black Chemists and Engineers supports the Regional Science Bowl competition in Northwestern New York. He volunteers with the local competition
Rick and his wife Brenda are the parents of two daughters. They enjoy reading, traveling, attending cultural events, and gardening.
