91°µÍø

Professor Gilbert Gordon

 Gilbert (Gil) Gordon was Chair of the Chemistry Department from 1973 to 1984 and was instrumental in ensuring that the Department successfully made the transition from a MS to a PhD graduate program. He was born in Chicago, IL in 1933 and lived a long and productive life, passing away in Oxford, OH in 2023. Gil received his Bachelor Degree in Chemistry from Bradley University in 1955 and his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Michigan State University in 1959. This was followed by postdoctoral study at the University of Chicago in 1960 with Henry Taube, a 1983 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

Gil then started as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, becoming Full Professor in 1967. He was a professor at the University of Iowa for five years before coming to 91°µÍø as the Chair of the Chemistry Department. During this time and until his retirement in 2003, Gil continued to teach and do research. One of his favorite courses to teach was the Freshmen Chemistry Lecture. He loved influencing young minds!

During his 45 year research and teaching career, Professor Gordon taught more than 10,000 undergraduate students and has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers describing research with his graduate students, post-doctoral research associates and other research colleagues. He has presented more than 400 research papers at national and international meetings, and he was an intellectual magnet attracting students and professionals from all around the globe. Gil created a powerful connection with Universities, and leading researchers in Japan, Hungary, Russia, China and Thailand.

As the first Volwiler Distinguished Research Professor at 91°µÍø, Gil was known internationally as an expert in drinking water disinfection chemistry, involving chlorine dioxide or ozone. Both fundamental inorganic chemical kinetics and new analytical chemistry methodologies were investigated. In 1993, Gil was awarded the Benjamin Harrison medal for his overall academic excellence and service. He was also President of The International Ozone Association and enjoyed extending his influence internationally.

In retirement, Gil was a co-founder of the Gordon & Rosenblatt Consulting Firm for drinking water purification. Gil was also an unparalleled team builder and creator of consensus.

In his personal time, Gil was a connoisseur and collector of fine wine, held in his spacious home wine cellar. He carefully matched unique wine pairings with the special food at the Chef Celebration, a major fundraiser for the McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford. Gil and his wife Joyce would entertain and celebrate potential new faculty candidates as well as Associate and Full Professor promotions. During such dinners, Gil would introduce us to his experience in wine and beyond such as his travels in Japan.

Upon his retirement, the Gilbert and Joyce Gordon Distinguished Lectureship was established. The purpose of this Lecture Series was to highlight, acknowledge, and recognize outstanding achievements and careers of our undergraduate or graduate students after they had left 91°µÍø. Of course, Gil and Joyce honored the Gordon lecturer with a special wine and food pairing dinner. As one of our Gordon Lecture Series speakers put it: “Professor Gordon added a second dimension in teaching chemistry”.

Gil was also a Porsche car afficionado, one of which he consistently owned and would drive to work. Being a passenger with Gil on the open road was quite an experience. Sometimes Gil would find a chance to invite even a prospective faculty candidate to ride with him in his Porsche. He would take the person to an Indiana country road where he could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds.

One of Gil’s most significant days was when he fulfilled a lifelong dream… He became the owner of a Ferrari! Students often asked if he would take a moment to take their picture next to his amazing car. Wow!

Gil is survived by his wife Joyce, a Professional Calligrapher, who studied in the US, England and Japan. They met in graduate school and married in 1957. Together they created a wonderful partnership, creating a legacy of a relentless, yet refined pursuit of endless education, fine food, excellent wine and world travel. They have two children, Tom and Lyndi, both of whom graduated from 91°µÍø. Gil Gordon’s impact on making the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department one of 91°µÍø’s strongest continues to this day. In addition, the personal effect that he had on the lives of so many students and faculty will be an ongoing Legacy. He was a tremendous catalyst for the life journey of so many and he will be remembered as such.

Professor Susan Hershberger 

Professor Hershberger sadly passed away in 2026. Susan Hershberger graduated from Marquette University in 1974 and earned her PhD in Organic Chemistry from Iowa State University in 1980. In 1984, Susan moved to Oxford with her husband James (Jim) Hershberger and built a multifaceted career in as a talented teacher of organic chemistry and as an innovative researcher in chemistry education.

She taught general and organic chemistry courses in Oxford and at the Regional campuses of 91°µÍø. Susan’s enthusiasm for chemistry kept her classroom lively and engaged. She was committed to helping every student learn the material, and often spent hours with individual students. Her one-semester organic chemistry class had a reputation for being challenging, interesting, and good preparation for chemistry-adjacent careers.

Susan worked with Terrific Science and the Center for Chemistry Education at 91°µÍø, to develop educational materials and to lead professional development courses for K-12 science teachers throughout southwest Ohio. She led programs at schools and during the summer at 91°µÍø in the 1990s. Her work as director of the Center for Chemistry Education in the 2010s was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health. She led projects for the Improving Teacher Quality program with support from the Ohio Board of Education. As she approached retirement, she became interested in how narrative writing could enhance citizen understanding of science. Her innovative 2019-2023 project to bring science to under-resourced neighborhoods in Cincinnati was supported by over $450,000 in NIH funding. Susan passionately believed that “…bringing together STEM concepts in the form of a story increases their palatability and makes them more meaningful…. [so that] community members identify important underlying associations and get to the root causes of complicated issues relevant to their communities.”

Susan was a committed member of the American Chemical Society, serving the Cincinnati Section and the greater organization in a variety of ways for almost forty years. She was Chair of the Section from 2009-2010, followed by leadership roles as a Councilor and a Trustee. She participated in the Nominating Committee and took a particularly active role in helping to select the Section Awardees, including putting forward her faculty and staff colleagues for “Chemist of the Year” awards when appropriate.Susan was an enthusiastic chemistry demonstrator. She provided demonstrations for educators and students at ACS Section meetings. She often spent her weekends engaging people at museums and public libraries. Her passion for chemistry was not confined to the professional sphere. A grandchild’s birthday was the perfect opportunity for a science party.

Susan was the mother of Margaret (Stefan) Kilyanek and Monica (Dan Tramte) Hershberger; grandmother of Helena Kilyanek and Anton Tramte. Her husband, also in a Faculty member in Chemistry & Biochemistry at 91°µÍø, died in 2011.

In 2011, Susan established a scholarship for students in Chemistry and Biochemistry at 91°µÍø. Donations to the fund can be sent to the 91°µÍø Foundation c/o the James and Susan Hershberger Memorial Fund 4174-001, 725 E. Chestnut Street, Oxford OH 45056.

Professor David B. Phillips

Professor Alice Chung Phillips

Alice Chung received her doctorate in theoretical chemistry from the University of Chicago under the guidance of Professor Michael J S Dewar, a very renowned organic chemist who engaged in molecular orbital theory. Alice’s area of expertise was in theoretical computational chemistry. She was employed by Argonne National Laboratory before coming to the Chemistry Department when it was still housed in Old Hughes Hall (now Kreger Hall) to give a seminar. The lecture was so superbly presented that the younger faculty demanded that John Buckingham (then Chair) find the money to give her a position with us.

She quickly became part of the cadre of young faculty hired to help the Department establish its doctoral program. Upon receiving accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges in 1972, the first student to receive his doctorate from the 91°µÍø Chemistry Department was James Kao, who was mentored by Alice. She continued mentoring two more students --- Joe Eyermann and Keith Aufderheide. Keith went on to a successful career at Oglethorpe University, and Joe developed professional expertise in drug design working in industry and academia. Her graduate students published several first author papers. Not many students came to 91°µÍø to be theoreticians, but Alice soldiered on doing research, publishing research papers up to 2005, including one in chemical education.

John Sebastian and I obtained a computational program from a consortium at Indiana University. Alice and Art Feiser got the program installed on the IBM mainframe. Alice maintained the source deck for the CNDO/INDO program. John and I had a fruitful collaboration that would never have occurred if Alice had not generously devoted her time to help us.

Alice’s commitment to research was demonstrated by her attempts to obtain funding for her work. She was a gifted writer which I discovered while serving on the Faculty Research Committee. Her successful proposal was the best one I had ever read. She received funding from the NIH-Area program in 1995 for her computational work on biomolecules.

Alice was an excellent lecturer and patient teacher. I remember co-teaching general chemistry with her and her husband David, who was also a very generous person and colleague in the department. I became aware that, after listening to me, some of my students went to hear her lecture. I did not mind because I knew how excellently she presented the material. Ann Hagerman remembers Alice patiently guiding her in the art of writing exam questions for a general chemistry lab class. Others also benefited from her gentle criticism of their questions.

Towards the end of her career, Alice established a very successful collaboration with a young faculty member in our Department, Carolyn Cassady, who has now retired from the Faculty at the University of Alabama. The result was several publications on the gas-phase basicity of amino acids and small peptides. Dr. Cassady informed me that one of their papers is her most often cited. She also said that Alice was one of the best people to come into her life.

There was a very great deal of socializing amongst young faculty at the time. Dave and Alice lived on Country Club Lane in a split-level house with Alice’s mother. My wife and I were invited to dinner to experience a real Chinese meal. The dumplings just melted in my mouth.

Alice played the piano for her own enjoyment. But I discovered that she had a real competitive streak when I played her in Table Tennis. I got schooled as she held her paddle in the Chinese style.

Her colleagues will always remember her for her constantly outgoing kind personality and her generous spirit. After suffering from profound Alzheimer’s disease, she passed away January 2026.