Temple University - Templar Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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tu jif fat genie Variation, JAMES A. HARRISON, Professor of Biology A.B., 1926, Trinity University; Ph.D., 1935, University of Chicago. Dr. James A. Harrison, professor of biology, has been working on the antigenic variation in the Salmonelli, a specific species of bacteria. Dr. Harrison explained that the most invariable thing about living organisms is their continual variation. This variation can be found in any measurable characteristic. In humans this is hard to see but not in bacteria that multiply so rapidly one today, several trillion tomorrow. Amonq these trillion, some are unlike the original parent in certain measur- able characteristics. Here lies Dr. Harrison ' s interest. Dr. Harrison has also written many articles for Science and the Annual Review of Microbiology. The Antigenic Varia- tion in Protozoa and Bacteria appeared in 1947. Before his arrival at Temple in 1935, Dr. Harrison was a high school instructor in Texas, a lab assistant in Chicago, and an associate professor in the University of Texas Medical School. Dr. Harrison likes to play the piano for his own amusement and to work in the shop. In his spare time, he has been able to make a plugging machine for test tubes and also automatic machine for both filling and plugging test tubes. Why do students find Dr. Harry N. Stoudt ' s botany classes so interesting and enjoyable? Dr. Stoudt ' s informality in the class- room may be the answer. He admits, Even though I resolve each semester to be more reserved, I find that before the first lab period is over, I ' m as informal as before. Dr. Stoudt has been working out the sporogenesis of the Magnolia which is of a primitive group in the phylogeny of plants. Although the in- vestigation of the Magnolia will aid the study of other groups, very little had yet been done on it. In order to complete his research on the Magnolia, Dr. Stoudt said that buds were collected for four years, over 1 ,000 slides prepared, photomicrographs taken, a thorough study made, and a proper sequence of events established. The results of Dr. Stoudt ' s research will be sent to either the International Society of Plant Morphologists or the Botonic Society of America for publication. Dr. Stoudt is a member of both societies. In his office, above the slides and photomicrographs of his research work, hangs his favorite Ben Franklin quotation, Knowledge is the discovery of ignorance. HARRY N. STOUDT, Assistant Professor of Biology B.S. in Ed., 1931; Ed.M., 1933, Temple University; Ph.D., 1939, The Johns Hopkins University. 28 A highly respected man for his knowledge in the field of bio- chemistry is Dr. John M. Ward, assistant profesor of biology. At the fourth International Congress for Biochemistry in Vienna to be held in the fall of 1958, Dr. Ward will speak on Bio- chemical System Governing Differentiation of Fungi. Since 1954 Dr. Ward has been doing research on the fungi. He is particularly interested in the cellular division mechanism and the physiological pathways of these chlorophyll-free plants. In 1955, a research publication, Enzymatic Oxidation of Ascor- bic Acid in the Slime Mold, Physarum Polycephalon, appeared. To carry on his research work, Dr. Ward has received grants from the Lalor Foundation, Temple University Committee on Research, and the Curtiss Wright Corporation. In 1953 Dr. Ward was a United States Public Health pre-doctoral fellow and later a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers. Since his arrival at Temple in 1954, Dr. Ward has been appointed research associate at the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia. When asked what hobbies he had, Dr. Ward ad mitted, I ' m not very good at any, but I do like to play golf. IT ' - T JOHN M. WARD, Assistant Professor of Biology B.S., 1949, Rutgers University; Ph.D., 1954, University of Pennsylvania.

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. . . Jtoe Colleague A fa Research . . llll! aidone to space FRANCIS NADIG, Professor of Physics A.B., 1925, Temple University; A.M., 1929, University of. Pennsylvania. Associate Professor Elmer L Offenbacher received his early formal education in the S. R. Hirsch day school in Germany. He was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1923. Dr. Offenbacher teaches quantum-mechanics of solid state physics. He is interested in solid state physics from the theoretical approach and is absorbed with the theory of e lectrical con- ductivity and breakdown of insulators (dialectrics) applied to ionic crystals such as table salt. He is also working on propaga- tion of stress waves in metals and plastics. For his students, Dr. Offenbacher tries to create an atmosphere of challenge which he considers essential for developing the maximum edu- cational potential of students. Dr. Offenbacher is fighting the natural inertia of his laboratory students with a propellent in the form of a diary report. The students are assigned to ques- tion the why ' s of their experiments and to find the answers and record them. Dr. Offenbacher ' s interests are otherwise directed to gymnastics and participation sports, which he considers necessary to an integrated personality. Dr. Offen- bacher is a practicing Orthodox Jew and interested in religion from the point of integration with science. He is a founder of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists. Associate Professor Francis H. Nadig has constructed a high- speed camera which will photograph what happens to a rapidly changing phenomenum, for example, to an exploding device, in one-half millionth of a second. It is a very useful recorder of split-second timed action. Mr. Nadig has worked with produc- ing apparatus as an illustration of general physics principles. Before coming to Temple as an undergraduate, Mr. Nadig had developed an interest in mechanics, as an apprenticed ma- chinist for three years. Students benefit from his interests in this field for their study of the law of refraction and the study of spectra which is accom- plished by seeing illustrations of them on a spectrometer. A member of the University staff since 1925 Mr. Nadig has en- joyed his work because whatever he did was largely a matter of my own judgment. He has a favorable impression of his stu- dents that makes him feel students are not chasing credits. Professor William F. G. Swann ' s teaching had covered a span of more than fifty years. Among his students were Professors Hodges and Bonn of the Physics Department. Dr. Ernest Lawrence, Nobel Prize winner for his work with the cyclotron, is one of his most famous students. In 1954, Dr. Swann was the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from Temple Uni- versity. His classes at Temple University consist of lectures to graduate students. Honorary degrees conferred on him, as well as membership in many learned societies, among them the American Physical Society (pres. 193 1-33), American Philosophi- cal Society (counc. 1939-42, Sec ' y 1939-46) give evidence of a lifelong contribution to the development of science. He is also founder and conductor of the Swarthmore Symphony. Since 1927, Dr. Swann has been director of the Bartol Research Foundation in Swarthmore, where only pure research is done. There Dr. Swann and his staff are studying the relationship of mass to energy and how a tiny particle of cosmic ray can ac- quire billions of electron volts. It involves the study of the mechanism responsible for the generation of energies of cosmic-rays. ELMER L. OFFENBACHER, Associate Professor of Physics B.A., 1943, Brooklyn College; M.S., 1949; Ph.D., 1951, Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. 27 W. F. G. SWANN, Professor of Physics B.Sc., 1905; D.Sc., 1910, University of London; M.A., 1924, Yale University; .D.Sc., 1929, Swarthmore College; F.T.C.L.. 1936, Trinity College of Music, London; D.L., 1954, Temple University.

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' X-radiatfoH . CJtetnfoU fa RALPH WICHTERMAN, Professor of Biology B.S. in Ed., 1930, Temple University; A.M., 1932; Ph.D., 1936, University of Pennsylvania. Solid solutions of metals in metal oxides, with their unusual properties, are of great interest to Dr. Lawrence E. Conroy, instructor in chemistry. With the aid of four day and three evening students, most of whom are working on their Master ' s degree, he is doing basic research on these compounds. To determine methods of preparation, chemical and physical prop- erties, and reasons for behavior of these compounds are all part of Dr. Conroy ' s research. If one were to look at the crystals of these compounds, they would appear metallic due to their luster. However Dr. Conroy explained that these crystals do not possess all the properties of metals. The electronic prop- erties are those of metals, but they are unlike metals in that they are not malleable. Dr. Conroy added that temperatures of 800 to 1200 degrees centigrade are necessary to prepare these compounds. Some of these solid solutions of metals in metal oxides may be useful as semiconductors, the basic units in transistors, which can replace electron tubes for many pur- poses and have the advantages over electron tubes of smaller size and lower consumption. Dr. Ralph Wichterman, winner of the 1955 Darbaker Prize in Microscopical Biology, presented by the Pennsylvania Acad- emy of Science, is working on the effects of high dosage X-radiation on one-celled animals. For the past twenty years, one could find Dr. Wichterman at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts from. June to mid September experimenting on these protozoa. During the re- mainder of the year the data obtained in Massach usetts are analyzed and studied at Temple. Dr. Wichterman has received grant from both the Temple University Committee on Research and the Office of Naval Research. Why use protozoa? Dr. Wichterman explained that these animals are invaluable because of their prevalence and the ease to which they lend themselves effects of radiation may be discovered with speed and precision. Protozoa can even survive exceedingly high dosages of radiation. Their radiation resistance is 850 times greater than that of man. In addition to this research work, Dr. Wichterman is writing a histology text. Reprints of his articles written for various journals are also sent to scientists throughout the world. No national boundaries exist to the scientist. Dr. Edgar Howard is presently engaged in fundamental studies in the field of organophosphorus compounds. This important re- search work includes the investigation of the methods of preparations of various types of organophosphorus compounds, their behavior, and their properties. An attempt is also being made to study the mechanism of organic reaction and to deter- mine the way molecules react with each other. Dr. Howard said that these compounds may have great potential in the preparations of synthetic polymers. Such polymers may be un- usually resistant and stable to extremely high temperature. Other possible applications of these compounds could be in the preparation of insecticides and therapeutic agents. Dr. Howard has developed various techniques in using the infrared-spectrophotometer which have aided in the .analysis and study of organophosphorus compounds. A brilliant chemist once said by each chemical reaction Nature is trying to tell us some of its secrets, and it is up to the chemist to find out what is being said. Dr. Howard is indeed playing an important role in unraveling some of these secrets. LAWRENCE E. CONROY, Instructor in Chemistry B.S., 1949, University of Rhode Island; M.S., 1952; 1955, Cornell University. Ph.D., 29 EDGAR HOWARD, JR., Associate Professor of Chemistry Sc.B., 1943, Brown University; Ph.D., 1946, University of Illinois.