I graduated in 1940 with a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry. A few
years ago, while walking in the hall of the new Chemistry building, I saw a display of Dr. Joe Deck's career at SCU. I was in his first class in 1936, and believe I am the first 4-year chemistry graduate of his career. If your library has a copy of the 1936-37 yearbook, The Redwood, you will see towards the beginning of the book, a montage of photos of that time. The most striking photo, in my opinion, is of two people in their pajamas, blindfolded, holding onto a streeetlight pole on Lafayette Street in Santa Clara. The two people are Chet Porter and myself, Bob O'Connor, being initiated into the Galtes Chemical Society. We were the first four-year graduates from the Department of Chemistry in Dr. Joe's program. The reason that I think I was the first graduate is that the diplomas were given alphabetically, plus, Chet became a real estate salesman after graduation, while I never deviated from Chemistry, except for five years of service in the Air Force.
Generally, I did private label manufacturing, which entailed many products. I would like to stress that I had a Santa Clara advantage, because during the time I studied chemistry, I took my most inspirational class ever, an ethics class taught by Fr. Laughlin. This class influenced me throughout my career. It inspired confidence, and made me realize that it was more important to perform with ethics than anyting else. The two together made for a very happy career. |
