• rjTiTiIiJ. l I IIIII II U'I IIJENNY" 1970 PRESIDENT Society for Applied Spectroscopy Mrs. Jeanette G. Grasselli ARCS & SPARKS - Spring - Summer 1970 Issue page contents: 2 STANDARDS LABORATORIES CONFERENCE 3 MADAM PRESIDENT 5 GEOLOG'lC LABORATORY, SANTURCE, PUERTO RICO 5 DEATH OF RALPH H. MULLER 10 ULTRA SUPERIOR PURITY HELPS TRACE ELEMENTS IN HUMAN HAIR 10 1970 SUMMER COURSES 11 XV COLLOQUIUM SPECTROSCOPICUM INTERNATIONALE 14 INTRODUCING ... DONALD K. MUNHALL 14 CALL FOR PAPERS EASTERN ANALYTICAL SYMPOSIUM 15 NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS NEWS photo stories 4 GUEST SPEAKERS - TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY SYMPOSIUM 6-7-8-9 21ST PITTSBURGH CONFERENCE 15 looking ahead Arcs & Sparks is published by Ultra Carbon Corporation, P.O. Box 747, Bay City, Michigan 48706, for the advancement of the profession of spectroscopy. News stories, changes of address and other pertinent correspondence should be directed to the Editor. Standards laboratories Conference to be Hosted by NBS The National Conference of Standards Laboratories One of the Conference highlights will be an address by will hold its biennial meeting June 15-17, 1970, at the Myron Tribus, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for National Bureau of Standards (U.S. Department of Com- Science and Technology, at the Conference Banquet. The merce), Gaithersburg, Md. Theme of this year's Conference keynote address will be given by Lewis M. Branscomb, will be Innovative Metrology-Key to Progress. Director, NBS. NCSL is a non-profit laboratory-oriented organization Since the original call for papers was issued, the dates founded to promote cooperative efforts toward solving for the Conference have been changed (pr~viously the common problems faced by standards laboratories in announced as June 14-16). This makes possible a back-to- their organization and operation. Its membership consists back arrangement with the Precision Measurements of academic, scientific, industrial, commercial, and govern- Association, whose Third Annual Conference will be held mental laboratories concerned with the measurement of at the Sheraton Park Hotel, Washington, D.C., June 17-19. physical quantities, the calibration of standards and The opening session of the PMI Conference is in fact instruments, and the development of standards of practice. planned to be held at the National Bureau of Standards in It provides liaison with technical societies, trade associations, cooperation with the NCSL Conference. and educational institutions interested in these activities. For further information concerning the NCSL Confer- Topics to be discussed at the Conference include: ence, write to: New ways of managing New ways of reducing costs R. J. Barra, M. S. 550 New methods of optimizing calibration intervals Westinghouse Defense & Space Center New time-saving procedures P. O. Box 746 New technologies and applications Baltimore, Maryland 21203 2 MADAM 'PRESIDENT Mrs. Jeanette G. Grasselli is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. She obtained her B. S. degree in Chemistry at Ohio University and her M.S. at Case Western Reserve Univer- sity. After graduation, she joined the Research Department of the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, where she is currently an Analytical Group Leader in charge of Absorption Spec- troscopy, NMR, and Thermal Methods of Analysis. She has one patent and has authored or co-authored twenty-five scientific papers and publications in the field of Infrared Spectroscopy. Her research interests have been primarily ~ in the structure and orientation of polymers and in eluci- Jeanette G. Grasselli dating the nature of the bonding in novel organometallic compounds. In addition, she has worked with developing in the same direction from her high school chemistry techniques for obtaining IR spectra of trapped gas chromato- teacher. She took advanced math courses, earned scholastic graphy fractions or recovered thin layer chromatography honors, and was elected football queen. spots. She has been an invited lecturer at the Canisius College summer institute in Infrared Spectroscopy (1966, She followed the same pattern at Ohio University, 1967, 1968) and at Case Western Reserve University where she was queen of the Junior Prom and a member of (1967, 1968, 1969). Phi Beta Kappa. When she graduated in 1950 with a B.S. in chemistry, her four-year average was 3.8 out of a She has been active in SAS at the National and local possible 4.0. level for some time. She was President of the Cleveland Section in 1961-1962, chairman of the Hotel Liaison The best job offer Jenny received was from the research committee of the 3rd National SAS meeting in Cleveland, center, and she started there as a junior chemist. She was 09io, 1964, member and chairman of the National assigned to the "Infrared and Special Problems" project; Sustaining Membership Committee in 1962, 1964-1965, and soon she found herself analyzing petroleum products chairman, Nominating Committee in 1967 and member of and various chemicals, a task for which she had had no the Tellers and Constitution committees. special training. She is a member of Coblentz Society (Board of Managers, "It was completely new to me;' she recalls, "and I 1968-1971), ACS, Phi Beta Kappa, Iota Sigma Pi(President, loved it. I wanted to learn more about the work, which is Fluorine Chapter, 1958-1960), Cleveland Council on why I went on to get my master's degree in organic World Affairs and the Central United States Ski Club. As chemistry:' an active participant of the ACS,SAS, and Sohio Speakers' The "special problems" that Jenny encountered in- Bureau, she has given numerous talks before high school, volved such questions as, "How well can a particular college, civic, and technical groups. fuel oil maintain its specifications in storage?" and, "How In 1963 she received the Eleventh Annual Chemical can one measure the viscosity of motor oil at zero degrees Profession Award from the Cleveland area chemistry and Fahrenheit?" chemical engineering societies. In 1965 she received the It was in the effort to solve such problems that Jenny and Certificate of Merit Alumni Award from Ohio University. two of her supervisors developed a new technique for Jenny's business career started early. Before she was extracting naphthalene from a refinery "stream:' They out of high school, she was selling aluminum castings for shared the patent credit. her father's foundry in Elyria, Ohio. In 1952 Robert Karl Grasselli joined the research She had been born in Cleveland in 1928, the daughter center of Standard Oil. His particular area of interest then of Nicholas and Veronica Gecsy. "I grew up playing as now, is catalysis. Bob Grasselli's first assignment was around the foundry;' she recalls. "I learned a lot about to develop a catalyst that would produce a new and metals - how to make sand cores, check the temperature different kind of molecule. In the course of his work, Bob of the metal. After a while I went around with my father produced chemicals that required spectroscopic analysis. when he called on customers and helped him quote jobs:' It was Jenny who did the job for him. Both were attending Purchasing agents thought Jenny was along for decoration, night classes at Western Reserve University, Jenny until she began supplying her father with facts and studying for her master's degree, Bob for his doctorate. figures. Bob and Jenny were married in 1957, and both have The years at the foundry gave Jenny her initial impetus continued their progress in their respective careers. Bob toward chemistry, and she received further encouragement (Continued on page 15) 3 DR. Jack Betteridge Dr. N. J. Harrick Dr. W. W. Wendlandt Dr. A. A. Westen berg Univ. College of Swansea Harrick Scientific Corp. University of Houston Johns Hopkins University Swansea, Wales, Gr. Brit. Ossining, N.Y. Houston, Texas Silver Springs, Md. Guest Speakers Twenty-Third Annual Louisiana State University Symposium January 26-29, 1970 Dr. R. K. Skogerboe Dr. H. F. Walton Cornell University University of Colorado Ithaca, N. Y. Boulder, Colo. Dr. W. F. Libby, N.L. Dr. S. P..S. Porto Dr. R. C. Ropp Dr. J. P. Walters University of California University of S. California Westinghouse Corp. University of Wisconsin Los Angeles, Calif. Los Angeles, Calif. Bloomfield, N.J. Madison, Wise. 4 Geologic Laboratory Santurce, Puerto Rico The ceremony of the Official Inauguration of the Geo- logic Laboratory was held on January 23, 1970, in the Antonsanti Building, in the Area of Natural Resources of the Public Works Department. The facilities consist of an area of more than 4,000 square feet and the technical personnel consists of 11 scientists and specialists in the Area of Natural Resources and the United States Geo- logical Survey of the Department of the Interior. The Antonsanti Laboratory has the most modern equip- ment for the analysis of geologic samples, including a spectrograph, atomic absorption equipment, mercury vapor detectors. spectrometers. equipment to pulverize samples and auxiliary equipment that the geologists will use in their analysis of rock samples. The capacity of the laboratory will permit several hundred determinations each day. The geologic material selected by the scientist in the field will be analyzed within 24 hours, thus per- mitting an evaluation of the mineral resources of the island, and permitting a better comprehension of the natural resources of Puerto Rico. The Under-Secretary of Public Works and other dis- tinguished personalities of the United States Geological Survey al1d the Department of the Interior proceeded to demonstrate to the reporters and different government and private personalities the facilities of the laboratory. Ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Antonsanti Laboratory, San- A cocktail party was held from five to seven in the turce, Puerto Rico, (left to right) Alberto P. Marranzino, U. S. evening in the Area of Natural Resources. As a close t~ Geological Survey Chief, Field Service Section, Undersecretary Carlos Garret.