Class Memories

My biggest Meliora Moment was graduating as a chemical engineer in four years which was quite a feat and was a must do for me since I had an NROTC scholarship. I had to get through to get my commission and start my service requirement!!

An important learning experience occurred when Dick Wedemeyer, Jesse James and I entered the AIChE National science project contest, working day and night (running over to the lab to check samples at midnight after taking dates home after a party or dance) for many months. We presented our paper/experiments and finished second nationally. This project taught us how to find, design, develop, organize, and implement a project that was both interesting and useful. It taught teamwork and division of labor and showed us we could compete with anyone.

Probably the most memorable moment was when the first issue of our newly-created UR humor magazine went on sale and was sold out in 45 minutes! A group of us in our junior year thought the school was a little too serious (the administrators did not think so) and what it needed was a humor magazine. Harvard and others had them why shouldn't Rochester. Starting from scratch we got a grant from the Finance Committee after many presentations (I happened to be the Chair of the committee) and a little tiny office, and started working. It took over a year and we probably employed 20 or so people. Soon UGH (UnderGraduate Humor) was born complete with an UGHable doll and all. We more than covered our budget and we paid back the grant, too. The administration came asking us for a copy for the archives even though they were never really enthusiastic about the project. The following spring I went home with the next editor and at his home, while transferring the tools of the job, I met his younger sister who is now my wife of 45 years. Now that is a Meliora Moment!

There can be no better training for anything you might do than to start something with a group of people and eventually sell it successfully to your peer group.

As a sophomore student at the UR, I was inspired by my faculty mentor Professor Sanford Siegel to pursue my career in cell and molecular biology. Sandy challenged me to work in his laboratory as a research assistant to learn the fundamentals and discipline of scientific investigation as related to his research. Later on, this experience helped me decide on my early career in medical research and clinical investigation.