50-Year ACS Member (2007): Robert E. Heeks

Robert E. Heeks is a native of Rochester, NY. He graduated from Charlotte High School in 1948 and from the University of Rochester in 1952 with a BA in Chemistry. At that time he was also a Naval Reservist. In 1954 Bob received an MS in Chemical Engineering, also at the U of R studying under Prof G. Broughton. His thesis was "A Study of the Chain Length Distribution of Some Chemical Celluloses". Under the guidance of Dr. G.J.Su and a fellowship from the Ferro Corp. Bob received his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1957. The title of his thesis was "A Study of Dilatancy in Frit-Water Suspensions. Bob was the first recipient of a Ph. D. degree from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the UofR and was also elected to Sigma Xi. Bob met Shirley Stam at the Uof R coed and they were married in 1955.

After graduation Bob joined the Haloid Co. in Rochester as manager of a group investigating silver halide emulsions and their application to form photosensitive coatings. After Halide became Xerox he transferred to the Webster manufacturing operations in the early 70's. Bob assumed responsibility for manufacturing engineering of all aspects of photoreceptor production, including the alloy raw materials, drum and belt substrates, coating of photosensitive material, and reclaim of alloys and substrates. Bob was responsible for taking these innovations from the product development departments and making them manufacturable. By the early 1980's selenium alloy photoreceptors began to be replaced by organic belt photoreceptors. Bob then assumed a leading role in setting up belt coating operations for the complex layered organic material at a plant in Oklahoma City. Today one of the most lucrative profit centers for Xerox is the sale of "supplies", an area to which Bob contributed during most of his professional career.

Following early retirement he returned to Xerox to supervise chemical cleanup activities in Webster, and after 40 years of service, 7 patents and numerous publications, Bob finally retired to his and Shirley's home on Canandaigua Lake.

On the lake Bob raced Star boats, a Holiday Sloop, and a Catalina while serving two terms on the Canandaigua Yacht Club Board of Governors. Also, during several terms as Membership chairman. membership in the club flourished. Bob and Shirley raised five children; Leslie, Bob(Kathy), Kathy(Kevin), Mark, and Liz(Jim) and they are currently the proud grandparents of eight grangchildren.

50-Year ACS Member (2007): Lewis Lincoln

Lewis Lincoln, who among his peers has always been called “Abe”, worked his way from lab assistant to chemist at Kodak while going nights, working toward his chemistry degree from the University of Rochester.

Abe was born on a farm in Naples, NY, the oldest of eight children. After the death of his mother when he was 15, the family moved to Rochester, where he graduated from Jefferson High School in 1944. He then joined the Air Force and was part of the Troop Carrier Command in Germany for 29 months.

In 1947 Abe was employed at Kodak in the Synthetic Chemistry area as a lab assistant and began to attend the University of Rochester nights. Eventually he transferred to the Sensitizing Dye Lab in the Kodak Research Labs as a lab assistant and later as technician. He joined the ACS in 1957 and soon achieved the rank of Chemist. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the U of R in 1966. Abe worked on various projects synthesizing sensitizing dyes and related organic compounds under the direction of Leslie Brooker and Donald Heseltine until 1976, when he became a major scale-up chemist in the lab until his retirement in 1986.

For the last 20 years since retirement from Kodak, Abe has made a second career of selling real estate, having become a broker. He is just now in the process of retiring from that. He and his wife Mary live on a beautiful, large wooded lot in northern part of Irondequoit, the rear part of which goes down the slope toward the Lake Ontario shore level. The care of that consumes much of his extra time.

Mary and Abe had five children, all of whom had college educations; the two oldest boys having careers at Xerox and Kodak. A daughter lives in Pennsylvania. Well after the first three they had boy and girl twins. Altogether they have eight grandchildren, most of whom live in the area.

50-Year ACS Member (2007): Joseph Mammino

Joe Mammino was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1932. He graduated from Boys High School. From 1952-1954, Joe served in the U.S. Army in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in a dental unit, where he learned the art of making upper and lower dentures. Joe finished his Army career as a Sergeant. He then entered the College of Pharmacy of Long Island University. Since part-time jobs in 'mom-and-pop' drug stores were rare at that time, he switched to The City College of New York and graduated in 1958 with a B.S. in Chemistry. The most notable graduate in the Class of 1958 at City College was General Colin Powell, later U.S. Secretary of State.

Joe Mammino's first technical job (1957) was during his senior year in college where he started as a lab assistant with Mergenthaler Linotype (Brooklyn) which specialized in the graphic arts and lithography. After graduation, Joe continued working for Mergenthaler as a junior project engineer until 1960. Interestingly, in spite of the more prestigious title, he had to take a pay cut as a college graduate!

From 1960-1962, Joe relocated to the Southern Tier and worked for the Ozalid Division of GAF (General Aniline & Film) in graphic arts, lithography, etc. The work led to 2 U.S. Patents. Joe Mammino then moved to Rochester for a highly-successful 36-year career (1962-1998) in research, development and manufacturing with Xerox in a broad spectrum of applications (color inks, photoconductive materials, toners, imaging processes, etc.). Joe was an Individual Contributor/Principal Scientist when he retired.

His technical accomplishments during his Xerox career are noteworthy: 145 U.S. Patents were credited to him ! In 1987, he was recognized as Distinguished Inventor of the Year by the Rochester Patent Law Association (now called the Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association). Other honors include the 1992 Fellowship for Outstanding Achievement by The Society for Imaging Science & Technology.

His post-Xerox career included a brief period as a consultant. His hobbies include
gardening and fishing. Joe and his wife, Constance ('Connie') were married in 1957. They live in Penfield, NY. The Mammino family consists of four children (3 daughters, plus a son) who
live in the Rochester area. All are college graduates with both bachelor's and
master's degrees. Their occupations include: computer sciences; accountant; and,
public administration. One of their children switched from the latter field and now
operates Bauman's Farm Market in Webster, along with her husband. Joe and Connie have been blessed with 9 grandchildren.

Max M. Boudakian

50-Year ACS Member (2007): Richard B. McGriff

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.

50-Year ACS Member (2007): Robert J. Tuite

Robert J. Tuite, Sr. is a native Rochesterian. He attended Aquinas Institute and earned a B. S. degree in Chemistry from St. John Fisher College. He received his Ph. D. in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1960. He also graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1981.

Bob joined the Kodak Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1959 as a synthetic organic chemist with the Color Photography Division. After several years in various synthetic and product development assignments, he served in a series of progressive management positions with KRL, including Head of the Color Photographic Chemistry and Color Reversal Photography Laboratories; Assistant Director, Color Photography Division; Director, Color Photography Division; Director, Instant Photography Division; and from 1981-84, Assistant to the Director of Research.

In 1984, Bob was named Director, New Opportunity Development, with responsibility for finding new business opportunities for Kodak's technological assets. In this role, which he found to be the most challenging and enjoyable of his professional career, Bob was the principle architect of Kodak's worldwide innovation and new venture program, which was subsequently moved to Kodak Office, reporting to the corporate Venture Board and Eastman Technology, Inc. In 1989, Bob moved to High Technology of Rochester as Kodak loaned executive to help start a community business incubation facility for high technology startups.

In 1991, Bob took early retirement and immediately co-founded the Innovation Strategy Group, Inc. (ISG) as Managing Partner. ISG is a management consulting firm specializing in business value growth through innovation management excellence. In recent years, he has really started to retire and now estimates that he spends only about 10% of his time on ISG business.

Bob has three sons by his wife of 45 years, Ruth, who passed away in 2003. They are: Dr. Robert, Jr., a practicing pediatrician in Penfield, NY; Dr. Michael, a professor of Radiology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School; and Christopher, an Assistant US Attorney in Tampa, FL. Bob has five grandchildren, the oldest of which is an eighth grader who participates with the Pittsford Mendon High School girls cross country and outdoor track teams. Last Fall, she won the Section V cross country title for Class A (middle sized high schools) and was named to the 1st Team All State Cross Country Team and New York State 8th Grade Runner of the Year by Tully Runners. Bob remarried in 2006, and his new wife Sandra brought to the marriage three sons and five grandchildren of her own!

In Bob's early years at Kodak, he participated in a variety of sports and was a softball pitcher on various teams at Kodak and the Rochester area. Now he enjoys boating at their summer home on Canandaigua Lake and playing golf at every opportunity!
David G. Bush

Message from the Chair - September 2007

Looking Towards National Chemistry Week

October 21st - 27th, 2007

“The Many Faces of Chemistry”

For many years, the Rochester ACS Section has celebrated National Chemistry Week (NCW). This year marks the 20th anniversary of NCW, which will be celebrated from October 21-27. The 2007 NCW theme is "The Many Faces of Chemistry". The theme's goal is to create awareness of the wide diversity of career opportunities involving chemistry and to recognize and celebrate the many people whose dedication to a chemistry-related occupation improves the quality of life for those around them.

This year, the Rochester Section's NCW team of Calvin Uzelmeier, Deb Janes, and Tim Wilson are beginning an expansion of our NCW efforts with the goal of filling an entire week of activities. Current plans are to have programs at the Rochester Museum & Science Center on both weekends bookending NCW. The first weekend will tie directly into the "Faces of Chemistry" theme, while the second weekend will dovetail with the RMSC's spooky-science program. The hope is to reach a larger audience by diversifying the program.

For this year’s theme, the focus will be on highlighting not only what chemists, professors, technicians and teachers do, but also how chemistry can be combined with almost any other interest to find a career path. Efforts are underway to involve local industries, colleges & universities, patent lawyers, publishers & book editors, conservators from the Memorial Art Gallery, and representatives from the Monroe County Crime Lab. The Rochester Section has also received a grant that will allow us to unite students from RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) with younger students from the Rochester School for the Deaf and begin a mentorship program between the two schools.

We have also purposely scheduled our Annual Recognition Dinner on the last Friday of NCW at Hawthorne's Restaurant on October 26. Please look for the info for this dinner in this issue of "The CHEMunicator” or on our web page. Plan on joining us as we honor our 50- and 60-year members, the “Rochester Chemical Technician Award” winner, the “Rochester Chemical High School Teacher Award” winner, and the winner of the annual “Rochester Section Volunteerism Award”. This year, we will also be recognizing five students from NTID who recently won National ACS awards. The speaker for the event will be the President of Encore Chocolates, so you won’t want to miss a wonderful chocolate tasting!

You can see the theme in the plans being made – bringing together “The Many Faces of Chemistry”. In 2008, there will be an extra effort to partner with local schools, and the 2008 NCW theme, “Chemistry and Sports”, should provide many opportunities for activities!

Sound like fun? It is! Feelers have gone out to members of the section who have been active in NCW in the past to solicit additional ideas. We can use your thoughts, ideas and energy to be a part of our new, exciting NCW efforts. Whatever time and energy or ideas you can offer, please contact:

Calvin Uzelmeier at: uzelmeier@yahoo.com

Deb Janes at: deborah.janes@kodak.com

Tim Wilson at: timothy.e.wilson@kodak.com

For further information about ACS's National Chemistry Week, visit the official NCW web site.

Please take the time to consider these volunteer opportunities and join us during this special week honoring Chemistry!

Message from the Chair - August 2007

Since 2005, I have had the honor of being part of the ACS Governance Review Taskforce. This taskforce, jointly appointed by the ACS Board of Directors and the ACS Council Policy Committee (CPC), had the task of reviewing how the ACS operated and how it might evolve for renewed growth and relevance in the 21st century.

From the beginning, we have had many concepts floated - some drastic and some mild. Some are moving on, some have been tabled or outright discarded. One concept coming forth could reshape ACS membership more than in any other time in its history. The concept was laid out in a white paper prepared by the ACS Membership Affairs Committee (MAC), of which I am an Associate Member. This white paper examined the categories and levels of membership within the Society, as well as ACS membership requirements. From this review, MAC proposed a far-reaching expansion of potential membership while clarifying terms that have been questionable or confusing in the past.

This proposal will be presented to the ACS Council for consideration at this month's National Meeting in Boston. One or more of the proposal's recommendations could then come up for a vote at the spring meeting in New Orleans. I thought it would be of value to our local membership to be aware of these recommendations so that you can see how these changes might affect our Society - affect it, in my opinion, for the better.

Here are the key proposals coming forth from MAC:

*If approved, these changes would make anyone with a Bachelor's or higher degree in a natural science, engineering, or science education eligible for membership. In addition, any individual with an Associate's degree in chemical science or chemical technology would also be eligible, as would any qualified pre-college chemistry teacher not able to meet the above requirements. Currently, depending on the degree acquired, an applicant with a BS degree could be required to have 3 years of work experience before being eligible for full membership. Likewise, all applicants with an AS or equivalent degree could be required to have 5 years of work experience before being eligible for full membership. The proposal would also retain a provision allowing the Admissions Committee to approve for membership those whose chemical knowledge and training is attained in the course of work experience.

*If approved, these changes would enable all who currently qualify for Associate Membership to become full Members, making retention of the membership category "Associate Member" unnecessary.

*There is currently considerable confusion regarding Student Affiliates, many of whom think they are ACS "members". There is a consensus that they should be accorded member status. MAC's proposal is that a STUDENT MEMBER category be created, granting them all the rights of membership except those of holding national office. The provisions governing this membership category would be patterned after the current ASSOCIATE MEMBER, and Divisions and Local Sections would have the option of allowing, but would not be required to allow, them to serve as officers in the Division or Local Section. (Because the current ASSOCIATE MEMBER category would be rendered unnecessary, it is proposed that a straightforward way of effecting these changes in the Society's documents will be to replace the term "ASSOCIATE MEMBER" with "STUDENT MEMBER" in almost every place that it occurs.)

So what does this mean to you, a member of the Rochester Section? This means that the ACS will be opening up its membership to a more multi-disciplinary workforce in the future. It means that those who may have had a non-chemistry degree, but who worked heavily in the chemistry arena, can now become members without having to meet a level of work experience. It means that students, who did not feel a full part of the Society, can do so now as "Student Members" and we, a Local Section identity, can now have a record of what students in the area are members so we can draw on them for involvement within the Section. In the past, those records were kept separate from the ACS membership records and were almost impossible to acquire. We realized that when trying to locate Student Affiliates in organizing NERM 2004. Also, we have the power to allow the new "Student Members" to run for local office, allowing us more of a pool to draw from when looking for candidates. This is a situation that is getting harder and harder each year. This will allow us new blood, fresh ideas and a new energy locally. Should this pass, I would urge that we, the Rochester Section, immediately review our Bylaws and allow for Student Members to run for local office.

For some time now, I have said that the ACS is changing and this is a good example of it. If you have any thoughts about these changes, I suggest you contact one of our two Councilors or myself who can make sure that your thoughts are passed on during discussions at the Boston meeting August 19th - 23rd.

Councilor Lew Allen = lallen10@rochester.rr.com
Councilor James Reynolds = james.reynolds@kodak.com


D. Richard Cobb
2007 Chair
Rochester Section, ACS
d.richard.cobb@kodak.com
(585) 727-4903