Remembering Deke and Gus
by Howard Benedict, Executive DirectorThe 1993-94 scholarship year was ushered in by a sad occasion but ended on a bright note.
Deke Slayton died last June, leaving a gaping void in the Mercury Seven Foundation. As USA Today wrote, "One of the nation's most elite fraternities is smaller by one with the death of Donald 'Deke' Slayton, one of America's original seven astronauts."
Deke worked tirelessly to raise money for our scholarship fund, and we are remembering him by establishing a scholarship in his memory at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. We also are naming a scholarship at Purdue University for one of its graduates, another Mercury astronaut, Gus Grissom.
Minnesota is one of five new schools we are adding to our scholarship list starting with the 1993-94 academic year. The others are Colorado, North Carolina A&T, Syracuse, and Tufts. The schools already on our list are University of Central Florida, Georgia Tech, Harvey Mudd, Miami (Ohio), North Carolina State University, Penn State, Purdue, Texas A&M, University of Washington, and Washington University in St. Louis.
Each scholarship is worth $7,500, which means the Mercury Seven Foundation is committing a total of $112,500 to these awards this year. That's a far cry from our first scholarship year, 1986, when the foundation made seven awards, each valued at $ 1,000.
Dr. Harvey A. Miller, chairman of our Scholarship Committee, has left the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Central Florida and has returned to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he once taught. The school's Botany Department has provided him with a research office, and he will be teaching at the research level. We are thankful he will continue to chair our committee.
Again, I thank Lisa Beeson, herself a three-time Mercury Scholar at Georgia Tech, for assembling this second annual newsletter with information for and about present and past Mercury Scholars.
Alumni News
by Lisa A. BeesonWelcome to the second edition of Mercury Scholars, the annual newsletter published by the Mercury 7 Foundation Scholarship Committee!
The first edition, published in 1993, contained profiles of 19 of our past scholars. You will find updates on 18 scholars in this 1994 newsletter.
The Mercury 7 Foundation will be strengthened by continuing participation of past scholars. So, if you are a past scholar (or if you know someone who is), and I have not talked to you this year (or if you want to provide me with an update at any time), please contact me at Lisa@AstronautScholars.org. I look forward to hearing from you!
A Mercury Scholar roundtable discussion is being considered for May 1995. This would be an opportunity for current and past Mercury Scholars to meet with the astronauts for discussion and a question and answer session. I would expect the questions to go both ways at this type of meeting! Please let me know if any of you past scholars are interested in participating.
I hope you'll agree that this year's newsletter format is improved from last year. Next year, I would like to include more graphics and, hopefully, some photographs. Please send me photos (color or black-and-white) or artwork of yourself, your families, your pets, your work , or anything else of interest to you. I will try and include as many of these items as possible. Guest columns and other inputs are also welcome, as well as new profiles and updates.
Georgia Tech
1986-87 Preston Bates
Although Preston was not contacted, his wife provided the following update:
Preston is currently working on a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech, with an estimated completion date of December 1994. He is employed as a Research Engineer Level 11 at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, conducting work in aerospace.
Preston was married in 1986 and now has a 2-year old son, named Adam. During the telephone interview, his wife obviously had her hands full with Adam!
Although it is hard to imagine that Preston has any free time, both he and his wife are members of the North Atlanta Church of Christ and participate in teaching there.
1986-87 Kenneth L. Still, P.E.
Kenneth graduated in March 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and in September 1987 with a Master's degree in Civil Engineering, both from Georgia Tech.
At Georgia Tech, Kenneth won the- 1986 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter Southeast Regional Conference competition in the Balsawood Bridge Contest. The winning bridge was unique in that design software, then under development for the United States Air Force, was used to predict the failure load with 107% accuracy. In addition, then state-of-the-art CAD/CAM graphics were used to produce color-coded stress analysis which were used to refine the bridge design.
Immediately after graduation, Kenneth went to work as a project engineer for Westinghouse Groundwater Recovery (WGR) which was a startup subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. WGR designed, manufactured, and installed pneumatically powered pumping equipment for use in the cleanup of petroleum contaminated groundwater. Kenneth assisted in the filing of three patents for pumping equipment in addition to the development and performance testing of all of the company's product line. Kenneth spent five years with WGR and left as engineering department manager.
Kenneth received his professional engineering registration in the State of Georgia in 1992 and now works as the southeast regional manager for the California-based company, Clean Environment Engineers, which also designs and manufactures groundwater cleanup equipment.
Kenneth was married to Carolyn Chilton in 1987 and is the very proud and thankful father of Mary Helen and David Bentley. Carolyn received her joint undergraduate degree.in education from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Georgia State University and is currently a homemaker and home schooling mother. Kenneth and Carolyn live in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 Lisa A. Beeson
Lisa was first profiled in the 1993 edition. Since that time, she has assumed increasing responsibility as an environmental engineer at the Westinghouse Power Generation Business Unit in Orlando, Florida. For her efforts, Lisa has been awarded three consecutive George Westinghouse Signature Awards of Excellence in 199 1, 1992, and 1993 for work in acoustics, air quality, and permitting of power plants.
When not working or volunteering with Mercury 7, Lisa enjoys spending time with her 170-pound St. Bernard, Winston, as well as working in her gardens and decorating her home.
She is currently working on publication of two technical papers entitled Acoustical Design and Analysis Techniques for Combustion Turbine Projects and Low Frequency Noise Considerations for Combustion Turbine
Projects, which are planned for presentation at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Cogen Turbo Power conference in Portland, Oregon and the International Gas Turbine Institute's Power-Gen Conference in Orlando, Florida later this year.
1989-90 Brian Watson
The only information available on Brian at this time is that he is working with NASA and living in Hampton, Virginia. We'd love to hear more from Brian for next year's newsletter!
1990-91, 1991-92 Brad Moore
Brad was first profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter. Since that time, he has graduated from Georgia Tech with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (June 1993). He accepted a full-time engineering position with Amoco Chemical Company in Decatur, Alabama.
At the time Brad and some of our other scholars entered the job market, competition was stiff for the few jobs available. Brad related a story of waiting and waiting for offers to come, and then finally, two job offers materialized within a span of less than 2 weeks! He was fortunate to be able to select the better of the offers.
Brad's initial assignment at Amoco Chemical was a 6-month training program in which he worked in the chemical plant, gaining exposure to every aspect of the processes to increase his experience base and improve his knowledge of the industry. After completion of that program, Brad began to work in project implementation, where he is involved in every step of a project from the idea phase, through implementation, and startup, including providing technical assistance to plant personnel.
When he's not working, Brad enjoys sports and plans to attend a corporate-wide athletic competition sponsored by Amoco in Galveston, Texas. He plans to compete in volleyball and bowling in the June event. Since Galveston is near Brad's hometown of Houston, he will be able to combine a trip home with the friendly competitive event.
Brad expressed his sincere appreciation for the financial support of the Mercury 7 Foundation in his pursuit of education at Georgia Tech.
1992-93, 1993-94 Gregory Book
Gregory was first profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter. As of May 1993, Georgia Tech reported that he was making excellent progress toward his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering.
Last September the Mercury Seven Foundation and Freedom Forum sponsored the first annual Alan Shepard Seminar for Aerospace Journalists in Cocoa Beach, Florida. More than 200 high school and college journalism students and teachers as well as NASA and industry public relations representatives attended. Among those honored were two of our 1993-94 scholars, Gregory Book and Shayne Short of Texas A&M. Mercedes-Benz of North America had sponsored the Georgia Tech and Texas A&M scholarships and paid expenses for the two winners to come to Florida to personally receive their awards.
Harvey Mudd College
1987-88, 1988-89 Ken Easton
Ken was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1989-90 Douglas Dunston
Douglas was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1990-91 Jennifer M. Galvin
Jennifer will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1991-92,1992-93 Deborah Swarts
Deborah recently wrote to let us know that she began pursuing a Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Cornell University in 1993. She completed her studies at Harvey Mudd College in the 1992-1993 academic year. Not much additional information was available, so we hope to hear more from Deborah for next year's newsletter!
1993-94 Leo Parker
An article appeared in the June 1993 edition of the Harvey Mudd College Bulletin to announce the scholarship award to Leo Parker. Leo is majoring in Physics and Chemistry at Harvey Mudd and is expected to graduate in May 1995.
Leo is a resident of San Diego, and for the past five summers and two Decembers, he has worked at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. As part of his work, he developed software for data acquisition instrumentation. In 1992, he worked as part of a group at Scripps to redesign a high-accuracy gravity meter to be smaller and more efficient than existing meters used for operation at the bottom of the ocean.
Leo is the lead author on a paper describing analysis techniques developed for the project. As of Summer 1993, the paper was planned to be published in La Bulletin Geodesyque.
Miami University
1986-87, 1987-88 Karen Jenkins
Karen will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1988-89 Scott Williams
Scott will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1989-90 Amy Jacobs-Farr
Amy was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1990-91 Chuck Mueller
Chuck was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1991-92 Richard Rhinehart
Richard will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1992-93 Dan Karipides
Dan was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1993-94 Jennifer A. Regan
Jennifer will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
North Carolina State University
1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89 Matthew Young
Matthew was profiled in the 1993 of the newsletter.
1990-91 Edward Schatte
Edward graduated from North Carolina State University in the spring of 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Microbiology. During college, he was a researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and attempted to develop an immuno-contraceptive with the testis-specific GAPD that he found.
Edward is currently in his third year of medical school at Duke University and expects to graduate in May 1995. During the third year at Duke, it is traditional to participate in research projects. Edward is attempting to tackle a few problems in urologic malignancies. He is examining whether P53 mutations (a tumor suppressor gene which plays a role in various malignancies) require different therapeutic modalities than traditionally treated cancers.
During his spare time, Edward volunteers at The Freemont Clinic (a free medical center for the underprivileged), works with Habitat for Humanity, and visits the children at Lennox-Baker Children's Hospital. Quite impressive!
1991-92 Eric Sharpe
Eric completed his degree from the North Carolina State University in 1992 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics at Princeton University. He is conducting research related to string theory and expects to complete his doctorate degree work in 1997. According to Eric, his education occupies nearly all of his time.
Upon completion of his work at Princeton, Eric hopes to go to silicon valley to work in hardware development.
1992-93 Rick Beyer
Rick was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1993-94 Harold Eugene Olivey, Jr.
The following information was obtained from the nomination forms for Harold in 1993. We would love to hear from Harold for a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
Harold is studying for a bachelor's degree in Microbiology at North Carolina State University and is expected to graduate in December 1994. He has the rare ability to excel in humanities as well as sciences and is also obtaining a minor degree in music theory and composition.
As of April 1993, Harold planned to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. degree, ultimately leading to a career in biomedical research, either in industry or academia. He participated in a summer research program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. In the program, Harold was involved in designing and implementing experiments to clone and determine the nucleotide sequence of a defective DNA plant virus.
Harold also gained research experience as a technician working in research and development at ProChem Chemicals, Incorporated in High Point, North Carolina. This experience forced him to think on his feet and solve problems creatively by using his knowledge of chemistry.
Pennsylvania State University
1987-88, 1988-89 John Shaw
John was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1989-90 Emil Hayek
Emil will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 Kathy While Shellenberger
Kathy will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1993-1994 Brian K. Mathason
Brian extended is appreciation for the scholarship award through a letter. Brian explained how the scholarship will assist him in the purchase of a personal computer for use in preparation of his Master's Thesis. According to Brian, the award will also alleviate some of his daily financial worries. The financial stability will allow him to completely focus on academics and research in developing instruments for remote sensing atmosphere.
Purdue University
1987-88 Pamela Rowe Mechling
Pamela will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1988-89 Steve Vavrus
Steve was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1989-90 Mark Sepanski
Mark graduated from Purdue University in 1990. He has been studying for a doctorate degree in Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and by the time we go to press, he expects to have completed this work. Mark's research centered on the Lie (pronounced "lee") Theory, or Representation Theory. In early April, he stated that he expects to begin work as a visiting professor after completion of his degree, but his plans were not yet confirmed.
Mark was married in 1990, to Laura, who expects to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree at Indiana University this year.
1990-91, 1991-92 Scott Tamblyn
Scott was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1992-93 Matthew Szolwinski
Matthew was profiled in the 1993 edition of Mercury Scholars.
1993-94 Douglas Scott Adams
Douglas and his family visited the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Florida last November. He also attended Deke Slayton's memorial service at the Johnson Space Center in Houston last June and met the five surviving Mercury astronauts. At the time, Douglas was working as an engineering cooperative student in the space shuttle program at the space center.
Last year, Douglas continued his studies in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and expected to complete a bachelor's degree at the time we went to publication.
Texas A&M University
1986-87 Pixie Mosley
Pixie has been difficult to contact. We would love to hear from her for an update to be included next year. Dr. Miller (Scholarship committee chairman) remembers that, in addition to being in the first group of Mercury scholarship recipients, Pixie was an airplane pilot.
1988-89, 1989-90 Michael Skivington
Michael will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1990-91, 1991-92 Debora Fairbrother
Debora was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1992-93 Phyllis McAdoo
Phyllis was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1993-94 Shayne Xavier Short
As described in the profile on Gregory Book from Georgia Tech, Shayne Short received his scholarship at the first annual Alan Shepard Seminar for Aerospace Journalists in Cocoa Beach. Shayne's trip to Florida was sponsored by Mercedes-Benz of North America who sponsored the Georgia Tech and Texas A&M scholarships.
Shayne wrote a letter to express his sincere appreciation for his invitation to the event and his enthusiasm to continue a degree program in Electrical Engineering and Texas A&M. In Shayne's words, Alan Shepard and the other Mercury astronauts "represent ... the 'free spirit' of red-blooded Americans who are willing to take chances, try new things, and do what is necessary to realize dreams. American youth can learn a sound lesson from leaders such as [the Mercury astronauts] about the personal initiative and inner drive required to succeed in whichever endeavor is undertaken."
University of Central Florida
1986-87, 1987-88 Thomas Krizanosky
Thomas will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1988-89 Tim Henderson
Although Tim could not be contacted for this issue of Mercury Scholars, his father provided some information for the following profile:
After completing his work at the University of Central Florida, Tim went to California and studied at the University of California at Berkeley, then at La Jolla. He has completed a Master's degree in Physics and is currently working on a doctorate degree in Physics. In addition to his abilities in Physics, Tim is also very interested in computers and may pursue a career path and/or education in that area as well. Tim is currently living in the San Diego area.
According to his father, Tim says that he has yet to achieve his goals. However, it sounds like he is well on his way. We are proud of all of our past scholars!
Like many of our alumni, Tim truly appreciated the support and recognition which came with the Mercury 7 Scholarship!
1989-90,1990-91 Anthony DeLia
Anthony will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1991-92 Greg Turenchalk, Jr.
Greg was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1992-93 Fred Hicks
Fred was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1993-94 Larry Bradley
An article about Larry appeared in the June 30, 1993 edition of UCF Report, a newspaper for the staff and faculty at the University of Central Florida. The article announced Larry's receipt of the Mercury 7 Scholarship and provided the following details about some of his activities:
Larry is a self-taught amateur astronomer and astrophotographer, and he is leading a student initiative for a new observatory at UCF. In June 1993, he was assisting Alfons Schulte in the Physics department in researching protein dynamics.
University of Washington
1987-88 Gorm Nykreim
Gorm was profiled in the 1993 edition of the newsletter.
1988-89, 1989-90 Richard Merrill
Richard will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 Edward William Felten
Edward will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1993-94 Angela R. Bielefeldt
Angela will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
Washington University
1986-87, 1987-88 James Kim
James will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1988-89, 1989-90 Darren Klug
Upon graduating from Washington University, Darren accepted a position with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. The position offered a rather rare and unique opportunity to pursue a master's degree in Information Networking at Carnegie Mellon with company support.
The Information Networking degree at Carnegie Mellon draws on faculty from the university's Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Graduate School of Industrial Administration to implement a rigorous 14-month program to prepare students for careers in the telecommunications industry. Darren says that he relies on the knowledge gained from this program daily as he works with colleagues at Southwestern Bell to implement new products and services.
Darren was married in August 1992. His wife is in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University Medical School. After completing her M.D. and Ph.D., she is planning to become a research scientist in the neuroscience field. Mr. and Mrs. Klug reside in Brentwood, Missouri.
1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 Kevin Scott Ruland
Kevin will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.
1993-94 William Weeks, IV
William will be profiled in a future edition of Mercury Scholars.