1
Dear Friends of Purdue Biochemistry,
As you will see on the following pages, our graduates have been very active and highly successful in their professions. I
am particularly grateful to all who have shared glimpses of their lives with us, since I hear frequently that those of you on
our mailing list look forward to news of your former colleagues each year. Please take a moment now to send us some
news about your activities, and donl be constrained by the two lines on the "News and Comments'* - we happily accept
additional pages! If you are like me, e-mail may have a lower activation barrier than writing, and we are delighted to
receive your news that way, too (walker@biochem.purdue.edu or hermodson@biochem.purdue.edu).
Change is upon the department in many ways. We were delighted to welcome three fine new faculty to the department
this year Jill Hutchcroft, Joseph Ogas, and Barbara Golden. Rather than trying to describe their research here (and
probably getting the details wrong!), I refer you to the department Web site where they describe their activities in their
own words (www.biochem.purdue.edu). But recruitment of new faculty implies loss of others. Dave Krogmann has been
"retired" for over a year, but like Barney Axelrod (emeritus for 13 years), is in the department daily grinding up green
things. Gunter Kohlhaw is retiring at the end of this calendar year, and Ki-Han Kim has indicated his intention to retire
mid-1999. I have also announced my intention to turn the Department Head duties over to someone else, and Dean
Lechtenberg has initiated a national search for that position.
Thanks to all of you who made contact with Congress on behalf of science and education. We are looking forward to the
best year for NIH in decades and NSF also received a substantial increase in funding. These are crucial investments in
new knowledge and young minds that will keep our country at the forefront of the sciences in the years ahead.
We are also deeply appreciative for the financial support that you send to the department each year. The discretionary
account supports a number of enriching activities which make it possible for our students to have contact with top
scientists from around the world as they visit Purdue. I remind those of you who live in Indiana that the State refunds half
your donation of up to $400 (for a couple) on your State income tax. Combined with the Federal deduction, a large
fraction of your gift is refunded on your taxes. Thanks so much for your support.
We wish all of you the happiest of holidays and a most successful New Year.
Warmest regards,
Mark Hermodson
Somehow a very significant honor escaped our attention so this is two years late. We are pleased and proud to
announce that Meharry Medical College recognized the distinguished service of Henry Moses (Ph.D. 1964, Parker lab)
by naming a building for him. Our warmest congratulations go to Dr. Moses. He was also honored by Purdue as a
Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus in 1994. The Agricultural Research Building was renamed the Roy L Whistler Hall
o; Agricultural Research. Roy L. Whistler has developed a starch ester powder which when blown on water forms a film
that suffocates mosquito larvae but is nontoxic to wild life and environmentally degrades in a day or two. It is being
tested in swamp lands by the Fish and Wild Life Service. Frank Bell (Ph.D. 1968) retired to indulge in a long-standing
interest in antique clock restoration and high performance automobile restoration.
Larry Butler was a member of the team receiving the Purdue Agricultural Team Award for Teaching, Research and
Extension for 1997 presented to the INTSORMIL Team for "A Case Study of Superior Interdisciplinary Work: The
Impact of Purdue's INTSORMIL Team." Larry Butler was selected posthumously as the first awardee for the newly-
created "Research Excellence Award" for contributions of a CRSP scientist to global agriculture. Ronald Chance (Ph.D.
1962) is a peptide chemist and Lilly research fellow who, he says, has been "involved with a dedicated team devoted to
the research and development of highly purified animal insulins in the 1970s and human insulin by recombinant DNA
technology in the 1980s." He received a B.S. degree in biochemistry in 1956, an M.S. degree in animal nutrition in 1959,
and a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry in 1962, all from Purdue University. Chance is a recognized authority in the field of
insulin and related substances who made pioneering contributions to the initial characterization of proinsulin. Dr. Chance
was one of four Lilly scientists to receive the Team Award of the ACS this year for the development of the new insulin
analog, Humalog®.
John Halver (Ph.D. 1949) is Prof. Emeritus in Nutrition at the U. of Washington. He stays very busy consulting with
fisheries around the world. Dr. Idowu Iweibo (Ph.D. 1972) is Professor and Dean at the University of Ibadan. Dale
Deutsch (Ph.D. 1972) is an Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, SUNY at Stony Brook. Dale and his
wife, Lou, have been sailing in the Great South Bay and travelling Australia, Philippines, France, Spain, and Japan.
Jeffrey Nordstrom (Ph.D. 1977) is Director, Technology Discovery and Head, GeneSwitch Program with
GeneMedicine, Inc. located outside of Houston. The company focuses on non-viral gene therapy methods that involve