Our Eminent Alumni

Father Robert Zahn

Robert Zahn received a B.A. in Chemistry from UM in 1943. He served in the Army from 1943-1946 and as an officer in the occupation forces in Japan. Following his discharge, he continued to work in Japan until he entered Maryknoll Seminary in 1949. He returned to Japan following his ordination in 1955 and has worked there for 50 years. Father Zahn presently works in the Matsuzaka parish.

Dick Juday

May 28, 1918 - Feb. 16, 2002

Dick Juday graduated from Harvard in 1939 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsn in 1943. He came to Missoula in 1948 and was a professor at UM for 30 years. After his retirement he continued to volunteer his time at the University until his death on Feb. 16, 2002. He was at the age of 83, and is fondly remembered by generations of Chemistry alums.  The Chemistry Department holds a seminar series every Fall and Spring semester that brings speakers in from across the country to share their research with our Chemistry students and the greater research community at the University.  For more information about the seminar series, including the speaker schedule and archived Zoom seminars, please visit the Dick Juday Memorial Seminar Series page.

Jean’ne Shreeve

Jean'ne Shreeve, professor of chemistry at the University of Idaho for 42 years, is currently serving as as chair of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science. Dr. Shreeve's accomplishments in fluorine chemistry have led to over 340 refereed technical publications, and several national and international awards for teaching and research. A patent resulting from her work was issued in 2001 for a process to synthesize reagents.

Reynold C. Fuson

June 1, 1895 - Aug. 4, 1979

Reynold Fuson was a high school teacher when he came to the University of Montana, graduated in two years, and went on to get his Ph.D. from the Univerity of Minnesota in 1924. He also received honorary degrees from Montana and Illinois. Dr. Fuson, with others, wrote “The Systematic Identification of Organic Compounds” which is still in print today in its eighth edition.

Franklin Asbury Long

July 27, 1910 - Feb. 8, 1999

Franklin Long was born in Great Falls, Montana, and received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Montana in 1931 and 1932. Long came to Cornell as a professor of chemistry in 1937, a post he held until 1979, serving as chair of the chemistry department between 1950 and 1960. He served on the boards of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Albert Einstein Peace Prize Foundation and the Fund for Peace. Long received the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award from the American Chemical Society in 1985, and the Philip Haug Abelson Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1990.

Thomas B. Brill

Thomas Brill received his B.S. in Chemistry (honors) at University of Montana in 1966 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1970. He has been Professor of Chemistry at the University of Delaware since 1979. His current research concerns chemical processes at rather extreme conditions, e.g. the pyrolysis processes that occur on the surface of a burning material, and the hydrothermolysis processes that occur in water at very high temperature and pressure.

John D. Sullivan was a long time supporter and graduate of UM Chemistry department. Sullivan received his bachelor's degree from UM in 1921 and became a nationally known chemist and metallurgist. He received special recognition from the War and Navy departments during World War II for his efforts.

Dr. Leland Yates was a 1938 graduate of UM in chemistry. Dr. Yates taught on campus for a number of years and was highly regarded for mentoring his students. Dr. Jean'ne Shreeve was one of Leland Yates students.

William P. Cahill received two degrees from this department, a B.S. in Chemistry in 1961 and an M.S. in Chemistry in 1964. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Agricultural Biochemistry at the University of Arizona in 1972. He was a manager of residue chemistry for Sandoz Crop Protection at the time of his death in August 1988.

Stanley R. Ames received his BA degree in chemistry, math and bacteriology at UM in 1940. He went on to earn an M.A. in chemistry at Columbia University and a Ph.D. at Columbia in 1944. He has enjoyed a long career in biochemistry and is currently a consultant for Nutritional Biochemistry in Rochester, NY.

Dr. John Wiegenstein is a 1941 graduate of UM in microbiology, chemistry, and pre-med. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1944 and went on to practice medicine. In 1985 he retired from his practice at the polyclinic in Seattle.

William H. Lien graduated from UM in 1956 as a chemistry major, and his father William N. Lien graduated from UM in 1922. William H. Lien incorporated his earliest experience from the department of chemistry to his work at Lockheed and Viking Laboratories.

Dr. Richard H. Jesse was a Chemistry professor and Head of the Chemistry Department while simultaneously serving as University Vice President. In this latter role he served as the President's troubleshooter. After the departure of President James A. McCain to Kansas State, Dr. Jesse served as acting President of the University until the arrival of new President Carl McFarland.

Distinguished Alumni

1965
M.C. Gallagher, B.A. Chemistry 1918; M.Ed. 1943

1966
Raleigh Gilchrist, B.A. Chemistry 1915

1970
Jean'ne M. Shreeve, B.A. Chemistry 1953

1973
Reynold C. Fuson, B.A. Chemistry 1920; Hon. Ph.D. 1946

1976
Stanley Ames, B.A. Bacteriology, Chemistry, Mathematics 1940, was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He received his B.A. from the University of Montana in 1940, and both his A.M. (1942) and Ph.D. (1944) degrees in Chemistry from Columbia University. Between 1946 and 1982, Dr. Ames held various positions with the Eastman Kodak Company. He is recognized internationally for his research writings about vitamins A and E. Dr. Ames received the ASNS Mead Johnson Award in 1973 and received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from the University of Montana in 1976.

1977
George C. Floyd, B.A. Chemistry 1927

1983
Horace D. Warden, B.S. Chemistry 1933,

1987
Wayne E. Gitchel, B.S. Chemistry 1938

1989
Thomas H. Hayes, B.A. Chemistry 1936; M.A. Bacteriology 1937

1995
Dr.Ronald V. Loge, MD, FACP was born in 1948 in Sharon, North Dakota. He received his under-graduate training at the University of Montana, where he graduated in 1971 with a BS in Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude. He also attended the Technical University of Norway, Trondheim, Norway, as a Rotary International Scholar from 1969-70, during which he became fluent in Norwegian. He then earned an MS degree in Biochemistry from the University of Montana in 1972. He received his MD from the University of Oklahoma in 1976, and served as Chief Medical Resident, Seattle Veterans Administration Hospital (University of Washington) from 1979-80. Since 1980 he has been in the private practice of Internal Medicine at the Southwestern Montana Medical Clinic in Dillon, MT.