Chemistry Centennial

March 11, 2011

Chemistry faculty member Diana Mason, left, presents a brick from Masters Hall to Catherine Dawson, granddaughter of W.N. Masters. In 1910, Wallace Newton Masters established UNT’s chemistry department, a program he developed and served as director for 30 years. A century later, his granddaughter, Catherine Dawson, was among those on campus to greet nearly 200 alumni and friends of the department for the Chemistry Centennial Celebration in October.

Activities throughout the day included a student poster session, a continuous history presentation and a seminar by Frank Carey (’70, ’72 M.S.) of Wharton College, all sponsored by professional chemistry fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma. At a celebration at Fremaux’s Metropolitan, 100 birthday candles were extinguished by chairs of the department through the years: Leroy Theriot, James Marshall, Ruthanne Thomas, Michael Richmond and William Acree. In addition to Dawson’s greeting, attendees enjoyed a history presentation by Marshall, followed by personal reminiscences from alumni. Leroy Whitaker (’50, ’52 M.S.) ended the evening with a challenge to create a special Chemistry Centennial Fellowship, an endowed fellowship for chemistry students.

Among the attendees were Elaine Truitt ('42), widow of Professor Emeritus Price Truitt (’41, ’42 M.S.), and alumni Bill (’68) and Dee Carrico, son and daughter-in-law of the late “Kit” Carrico (’27), who served as chemistry chair for 26 years following Masters.

Also present was UNT’s first recipient of a doctoral degree in chemistry, Linda Creagh (’62, ’64 M.S., ’67 Ph.D.), the Truitts’ daughter.

A DVD revisiting events of the Chemistry Centennial is available. Contact Jenny Marshall, jmarshall@jennymarshall.com, for information.

W.N. Masters

Founder of the chemistry program and director for 30 years, W.N. Masters was known as a good planner, pusher, organizer, poet, scientist, manager, editor (he was editor of the Yucca yearbook) and evaluator of people.

He was good with finances (president of the First State Bank), knowledgeable in Latin and Greek, wrote several chemistry textbooks, and carried through on myriad chemistry and agricultural projects.

The home he built and lived in still stands at 1708 Hickory St.

In 1910, W.N. Masters established the chemistry department and moved into the brand new Science Building, located on Avenue A where the Language Building is today. (The Science Building was removed in 1967).

In 1951, Masters Hall was built, initially housing both chemistry and biology. In 1967, biology moved into its new building to the immediate south. (In 2008, Masters Hall was razed to make room for today’s Life Sciences Complex. Scrollwork and other ornamentation from the building is incorporated into the new design.)

In 2004, the new Chemistry Building was constructed on the corner of Hickory Street and Avenue C. The 105,000-square-foot building provides state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories.