A death

    World-Renowned Chicago Scientist Dies at 86
    Walter C. McCrone, Jr.

    A pioneer in the science of chemical microscopy died in Chicago
    on July 10, 2002 at the age of 86.

    Walter C. McCrone (1916-2002), the father of Modern Microscopy,
    revolutionized the use of and understanding of the light
    microscope for materials analysis, trained thousands of students
    worldwide in the use of microscopy, wrote hundreds of articles
    and books, gave thousands of presentations and lectures on
    microscopy, and developed numerous accessories, techniques, and
    methodologies to push the state-of-the-art in microscopy.  He is
    better-known to the general public for his analytical work on
    the Shroud of Turin, the Vinland Map and various other famous
    works of art and antiquities.

    McCrone was, at the same time, a humanitarian extraordinaire. He
    served on the Board of Directors of Ada S. McKinley Community
    Services, Inc. since 1951 and as Board President from 1964 to
    1995.  The Agency, a not-for-profit human services organization,
    has 40 program locations, a staff of 560, an annual budget of
    $40 million, and serves more than 15,000 clients annually
    throughout Chicago.  In recognition of his many years of
    dedicated service to the Agency, in 1997 they dedicated their
    new facility in honor of Dr. McCrone, the Walter C. McCrone
    Industries facility.  The facility houses 120 clients in its
    sheltered workshop program and provides intake, evaluation, and
    job placement for more than 1,000 program participants annually.
    He also served on the boards of VanderCook College of Music,
    Chicago and The Campbell Center for Historic Preservation
    Studies in Mt. Carroll, IL.

    McCrone was born in Wilmington, Delaware on June 9, 1916.  He
    grew up mainly in New York State and attended Cornell University
    where he completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry in 1938
    and was graduated with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1942.

    After two post-doc years at Cornell University, McCrone accepted
    a position as a chemist (microscopist and materials scientist)
    at Armour Research Foundation (now, IITRI) from 1944 thru 1956
    where he rose to become Assistant Chairman of the Chemistry and
    Chemical Engineering Department.  In 1956, McCrone left the
    structured world of the University to become an independent
    consultant and, on April 1, 1956 he founded McCrone Associates,
    Inc., Chicago (now located in Westmont, IL) an analytical
    consulting firm that grew from a one man/one microscope
    consulting service to a world renowned materials science
    facility dedicated to microscopy, crystallography, and
    ultramicroanalysis, now serving more than 2000 clients each
    year.

    In 1960, McCrone founded McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, a
    not-for-profit organization devoted to the teaching and research
    of light and electron microscopy.  In its 42 years, the
    Institute has taught over 20,000 students in all facets of
    microscopy.  The Institute remains a leading educational
    facility within the world of microscopy.  As Director of the
    Chicago Institute, he expanded its activities to include McCrone
    Scientific, the sister organization in London, England.

    Dr. McCrone was also the editor and publisher of The Microscope,
    an international journal started by Arthur Barron in 1937 and
    dedicated to the advancement of all forms of microscopy for the
    biologist, mineralogist, metallographer, and chemist.  The
    Microscope publishes original, previously unpublished, works
    from the microscopical community and serves as the proceedings
    of the INTER/MICRO microscopy symposia held in Chicago each
    year.  It emphasizes new advances in microscope design, new
    accessories, new techniques, and unique applications to the
    study of particles, fibers, films, or surfaces of any material
    whether inorganic, organic or biological.

    During his 60-year career as a chemical microscopist, McCrone
    published more than 600 technical papers and 16 books and
    chapters.  The Particle Atlas, his best known publication,
    written with other McCrone Associates staff members, appeared as
    a single volume in 1970 and as a six-volume second edition in
    1973.  Today, it is available on CD-ROM and is still recognized
    as one of the best handbooks available for solving materials
    analysis problems.

    McCrone received world-wide attention and acclaim for his work
    with the Shroud of Turin Research Project in 1978.  McCrone's
    contentious conclusion that the Turin Shroud is a medieval
    painting was subsequently vindicated by carbon-14 dating in
    1988.  In 2000 he received the American Chemical Society
    National Award in Analytical Chemistry for his work on the Turin
    Shroud and for his tireless patience in the defense of his work
    for nearly 20 years.

    Throughout his remarkable and outstanding career as a pioneer in
    microscopy and microscopical techniques, McCrone received many
    other honors and awards. A few of these honors follow: in 1970,
    the Benedetti-Pichler award in microchemistry from the American
    Microchemical Society; in 1977 the Ernst Abbe Award of the New
    York Microscopical Society; in 1981 the Anachem Award of the
    Association of Analytical Chemists; in 1982, the Certificate of
    Merit from the Forensic Science Foundation; in 1984, the
    Distinguished Service Award (Paul Kirk Award) of the
    Criminalistics Section of the American Academy of Forensic
    Sciences; in 1988, the Madden Distinguished Service Award,
    VanderCook College of Music; in 1990, the Irving Selikoff Award
    of the National Asbestos Council; in 1990, the Founder's Day
    Award and in 1991, the Roger Green Award of the California
    Association of Criminalists; in 1991, the Fortissimo Award,
    VanderCook College of Music; in 1993, the Public Affairs Award
    of the Chicago Section, American Chemical Society; in 1999, the
    Emile Chamot Award from the State Microscopical Society of
    Illinois, and just in June of 2002, he received the August
    Kohler Award from the State Microscopical Society of Illinois
    and is the only person to have received both the Society's
    awards.

    McCrone and his wife Lucy recently took advantage of the Cornell
    Campaign Challenge to complete funding for a professorship in
    the College of Arts and Sciences.  Named the Emile M. Chamot
    Professorship in Chemistry, it honors Emile Monnin Chamot, a
    Cornell professor of chemical microscopy.

    Walter McCrone is survived by his wife, Lucy, who is also an
    accomplished microscopist and has shared Walter's love of
    microscopy, working along side her husband for over 40 years.

    Contributions can be made in his name to the Walter C. McCrone
    Scholarship Fund for Advanced Microscopy Studies, c/o McCrone
    Research Institute, 2820 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60616.

Source: <URL:http://www.mcri.org/WalterMcCrone.html>


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:7
                   Distributed: Friday, July 19, 2002
                        Message Id: cdl-16-7-001
                                  ***