School Story:
[From 50th Reunion Yearbook...]
Retired scientist (material scientist)
BA Colgate 1960; MS & PhD in Natural Sciences, University of Gottingen, Germany (1978)
Positions at University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany; University of Lausanne, Switzerland; University of Karlsruhe, Germany. Geology.
Married Christa Mertens 1967
Christa writes:
After 38 years of marriage I miss him now very much, for he was a very special person. The years at Mount Hermon of which he had so many nice memories certainly contributed considerably to form the personality be became.
I am so sorry for him that he cannot join his former classmates in the 50th reunion in June which he would have enjoyed so much!
I will not be able to participate in the event - thanks for writing me!
All the best for the meeting."
Here is what Jim wrote for our 25th Reunion in 1982:
At present I am working for the Institute of Crystallography at the University of Lausanne as scientific collaborator or assoc. prof., whichever you like best. We are involved in studies of the electron density distribution in various types of crystals. How I got there can roughly be summed up as follows:
After four years at Colgate University, I worked my way through diverse jobs in Alaska, Hawaii, and Australia for three years. Occupations ranged from expeditor, cashier, clerk, roustabout, flenser, ranch-hand, to miner. Six months on the way to Europe over the Indonesian Islands, Malaysia and across India ended with forced recuperation from an intestinal virus at which time I started studying math and physics at Western New England College near Springfield. A small inheritance and an underrated German Mark allowed me, albeit starting from scratch, the study of physics in Gottingen, Germany until I had my “diplom”. Later I earned my Ph.D. in natural sciences.
While in Gottingen, I met Christa Mertens of Braunschweig, Germany, with whom I have been married since 1967. some years spent in Gottingen as a technical assistant and then as a scientific assistant were followed by five years as lecturer at the University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, not far away from Gottingen. After this we moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, where I have no teaching duties and am committed solely to a research project sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Despite my reluctance to write, my publication list is growing. More important is probably the grand opportunity I have had to be able to review European history at the source and live some 15 years of it myself.
The outlook for the future as far as research is concerned is somewhat bleak at the moment. Money that should have been put into solid research projects has been wasted on structural reforms at the universities that now block nearly any advancement or movement in the academic world. The lag in research and development is now taking its toll in the economies of nearly every western country including Switzerland. We are hoping that this situation will soon be recognized so that we can help out in future development.
