As My Academic Career Is Starting to Close, I Am Beginning to Reminisce Even More Over

A Brief Synopsis of the Professional Work of

Leon L. Combs, Ph.D.

May, 1961 through June, 2006

I. Introduction

As my academic career is starting to close, I am beginning to reminisce even more over my careers. The ACS defines professional activity as any function using the degree past the B.S. degree, so I will include my time in graduate school also as part of my professional activity. I then have had three years in industry, three years in graduate school, 25 years at MississippiStateUniversity, and 14 years at KennesawStateUniversity for a total of 45 years of professional experience. I have turned in my letter of resignation to be effective the end of June, 2006. I have not kept a diary, so much of what I have done has faded from my memory. However I did want to briefly state some of my experience for posterity, which is the reason for this tome. I have put a brief resume at the end of this paper and now will begin a brief discussion of my careers thus far in my 67 years.

II.Industrial (1961-1964)

In this venue I spent three years and three months as a polymer chemist after my B.S. degree. I started work in May of 1961 and married Carol Hardee in February of 1962. I worked for a paint company (Devoe & Reynolds) in Louisville, KY developing polymers for automotive and paper coating applications. I had two products go through the pilot plant and then into production. It was very rewarding seeing my product go out in tank cars to Ford Motor Company. I also developed a polymer for applications in juice containers (paper). I was also attending night school at the University of Louisville where I took 18 semester hours of graduate courses in math and physics. My major professor there told me that I should be a Chemical Physicist and, after he explained to me what that was, I wholeheartedly agreed with him. My wife and I decided that I would be much happier in academics so we quit our jobs and moved to Baton Rouge in August of 1964 to begin my Ph.D. program in Chemical Physics.

III. Graduate school (1964-1967)

This was a wonderful time! When we arrived in August of 1964, the Head of the Chemistry Department told me that the Chemical Physics program had not yet been approved by the governing board of LSU even though it was in the catalog! Since I came based upon the catalog I was told that I could either proceed in the physical chemistry program or proceed along the program as conceived by the faculty as what would probably be approved. I decided to do what I came to do since I am a risk-taker and rather hard-headed. I was supported by a teaching assistantship for one semester and then by a research assistantship for the remainder of my time at LSU. I was the first graduate student for Dr. Kelly Runnels who had been mentored by Professor Onsager at YaleUniversity. He was a wonderful mentor and friend. My first “lab” was a desk in a room where some instruments were located and for one of them they had to turn off the lights to use it. People wondered at this strange person who kept working at the same pace whether the lights were on or off! I was just so enthralled with my research that I was rather oblivious to the room conditions. Later a few more students were drawn to Kelly’s group and we occupied what had been a small classroom but without adequate cooling. I worked with the university IBM 7040 computer system with all of its whirling tape drives and blinking lights on the console. To do my research I needed the entire computer for several hours so I would reserve the computer from midnight until 5:00 am several nights a week and on weekends.

The Chemical Physics program was approved the spring of 1967 so I had to take the entrance exams, the qualifying exams, and the Ph.D. entrance exam all before May of 1967! I did all of that and the reading exams in French and German by their deadline. I also attended the QuantumChemistrySchool at the University of Florida (four weeks), the advanced program at Sanibel Island (3 weeks) and the Sanibel Symposium (one week) for eight weeks at the end of December, 1966 and part of January, 1967. It was at this Florida program that I met Professor Per Lowdin with whom I would later spend a year. The symposium was wonderful with Professors Lowdin, Slater, Hershfelder, and other luminaries of quantum chemistry.

I finished everything at LSU including three publications in the J. Chem. Physics when my mentor advised me that it was time for me to start my own career. I was a bit taken aback because I really enjoyed just doing research! But I started applying for positions and had two academic offers (one in a physics department and one in both chemistry and physics departments at MSU). I also had an industrial interview offered by Celanese and another academic interview offered at Clemson, but I jumped at the MSU position because that was going home! Professor Lowdin offered me a post-doctoral fellowship but my wife was very pregnant and we wanted to settle down so I decided to accept the teaching offer at MSU. I did not get everything submitted in time to graduate in August of 1967 so I started teaching at MSU in August of 1967 but received my Ph.D. in Chemical Physics officially in January of 1968. During the total graduate school time I finished with four publications in the Journal of Chemical Physics. At my final oral exam, the committee joked about whether I was being considered for tenure at LSU (the fourth publication in J. Chem. Physics had then been accepted)! Two of the publications were the first ever closed solutions of the two-dimensional lattice problem exactly infinite in one dimension (Onsager formulation) and extrapolated infinite in the other dimension. The Runnels-Combs papers are still famous in some circles.

IV. MississippiStateUniversity (1967-1992)

My first academic career was at MSU and started the fall semester of 1967 with three new courses to teach (second semester physical chemistry, third semester physical chemistry, and first semester quantum chemistry (grad course)), a new baby (Jeff, born September 17, 1967), and having to develop my own research program. Thus I have little sympathy when faculty members complain about having 3 new courses to teach! I was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics in 1971 and promoted to Professor of Chemistry and Physics in 1975 at the age of 37. I am a goal-oriented person and had a bit of a crisis when I had seemingly achieved my goals at 37. What would I do now? I gave a talk at a symposium in Norway the fall of 1976 and interacted with Professor Lowdin who had offered me a post doctoral fellowship. We corresponded and he offered me a year in Sweden with his group. I was Visiting Professor of Quantum Chemistry at the University of Uppsalain Swedenfrom August of 1977 to August of 1978 and the summer of 1979. At Uppsala I worked in Professor Per-Olov Lowdin’s Quantum Chemistry Group and interacted with some wonderful and talented people. One person, Erkki Brandas, became a very good friend and colleague. Per was on the selection committee for the Nobel Prize in Physics so I had access to some wonderful experiences associated with his work. Carol, Jeff, and I also were invited to the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm and that was a wonderful, rich experience. We were also invited to his home in the country for the mid-summer celebration. We made many lasting friends and it was a wonderful time. I was also Visiting Professor of Quantum Chemistry for a short time in the summer of 1980 at AarusUniversity in Aarus, Denmark and at KingsCollege in London, England. I was Head of the Department of Chemistry at MSU from July of 1981 until July of 1989 at which time I returned to full-time teaching and research. I was the founder and Director of the University-IndustryChemicalResearchCenter at MSU from January of 1982 until July of 1989. This Center brought in an average of ~$300,000 each year. I directed graduate students to the following degrees: 1 M.S. in Physics, 2 M.S. in Chemistry, and 5 Ph.D. in Chemistry. I also was a co-director of a student at the University of Uppsala who received his Ph.D. degree. I was also on the committees of many other students in chemistry, physics, biochemistry (separate department), and other departments across campus (I did not keep a record of all of those committees, but probably at least 25 over those years). I was the PI on an NSF EPSCoR grant for Chemistry at MSU that was responsible for boosting the reputation and productivity of the department significantly. NSF senior people recognized me for bringing MSU Chemistry to a competitive level, but much credit goes to the other faculty who “made it so”. MSU did not start reducing the teaching load for research-active faculty until about the time that I became Head there. About three years before I left, research faculty members were teaching 1 course/semester and others were teaching 2 or 3 courses per semester.

ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS/ACTIVITIES at MSU:

A. Overview of Improvements by Department During Tenure as Head (19811989):

600% increase in undergraduate majors

220% increase in graduate students

200% increase in funding proposals by faculty

185% increase in refereed publications by faculty

150% increase in papers read by faculty

100% increase in research projects by faculty

B. Specific Items:

> Planned and implemented procedures to best utilize total departmental funds, including funds to replace 2 faculty retirees. The funds were leveraged to add 2 new secretaries, 5 new teaching assistants, and 5 new faculty, and helped develop the additional position of the University Hazardous Waste Officer.

> Developed a contract system of work assignment, which was coupled with evaluation procedures to project raises for faculty.

>Developed new B.A. and B.S. programs and joint curricula with chemical engineering and with microelectronics.

> Developed and implemented a fiveyear plan for developing Chemistry at MSU.

> Reorganized the structure of the Chemical Sciences program to make it more functional for all faculty members. This better defined the Ph.D. program, which organized 37 Ph.D. chemists in several different units on and off campus.

> Worked extensively on Ph.D. review documents for the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and participated in oral reviews of this program. I interacted a lot with Dr. Tom Meredith who is now Chancellor of the University System of Georgia – small world!

> Developed the first formal university/industry research cooperative venture at MSU. This center began with a $1,500 award and quickly rose to over $300,000 per year in outside support.

> Established an undergraduate council for Chemistry. This group consisted of two student representatives of each class who met with me at least once each semester to discuss various aspects of their educational process. They also made recommendations to help in advising of other chemistry majors.

> Established a computer lab for CAI for all chemistry students (1983).

> Initiated a recognition program for undergraduate chemistry majors, including scholarships and a recognition banquet.

> Developed an undergraduate handbook for Chemistry majors to help in recruiting and to aid majors in their progress.

> Developed, with two other department heads in Arts and Sciences, a tuition waiver proposal for graduate students. This plan was accepted by the administration and is currently being used by the university.

> Obtained a campus chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon, the national chemistry honorary society.

> Assigned a committee to develop an undergraduate brochure and established contacts with high schools and junior colleges for recruiting.

> Established a faculty advisory group that meets with me monthly to discuss departmental matters. The membership of this group changes each semester to rotate through all departmental faculty members.

> Participated in a PAIR (Personal And Institutional Renewal) training program for department heads.

> Participated in a training program for department heads. This was a 3day retreat led by a nationally recognized leader to study the various aspects of this position.

> Gave papers at two national meetings on administrative responsibilities.

> Established an Organic Division to foster faculty development and aid in course scheduling.

> Computerized portions of office bookkeeping. This project included writing a computer program used to keep a daily balance of all accounts.

> Developed a handbook on procedures for Chemistry faculty.

HONORARY AND OVERSEAS ACTIVITIES:

A. Association with Honor Societies. Honor societies have an important role in encouraging and recognizing scholarship on a university campus. Leadership responsibilities I have had are listed below.

1. Vice President of MSU Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi (19841985)

I was responsible for coordinating the selection of new members for the fall and spring initiations. New processes were developed and new efforts were made for getting invitations to parents of initiates. I attended a regional meeting of officers at LSU to become more familiar with the internal functioning of the national organization.

2. President of MSU Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi (19851986)

Two major goals were accomplished during this year of service. One goal was to have the MSU chapter obtain its first National Fellowship winner. This was done by carefully selecting the applicant, aiding the applicant in preparation of the application, and having our applicant meet the chairperson of the national selection committee. MSU's applicant was selected for a full Fellowship and became a medical student at JohnsHopkinsUniversity.

Another goal was to set up a system of an award at graduation for students graduating with a 4.00 QPA. The proposal was approved with commendation by our central administration. A medallion was designed by me with the Phi Kappa Phi seal on one side and the MSU seal on the other which is individually awarded at graduation by the university president.

Several other accomplishments were made which include initiating the wearing of academic regalia by all people on the award's program, having all members wear their Phi Kappa Phi ribbons on initiation days, and other ways to improve the presence and prestige of this honorary on our campus. Also initiated was the holding of offices by the faculty members to twoyear terms rather than oneyear terms to improve effectiveness and afford more continuity of service.

3. Immediate Past President of Phi Kappa Phi (19861988) at MSU.

The duties of this office include responsibility for the campus Scholarship Recognition Day each spring and serving with the other officers as needed. Scholarship Recognition Day is the special event during the year to honor students of special distinction in all disciplines. Certificates were developed which are presented to each honor student and more individual contact with students and parents to prompt their participation was initiated. I had to “butt heads” with a new Provost who wanted to cancel the event, but the event still continues and news coverage before and after the event continues to be stressed.

4. Developer of the Chemistry Honorary Society at MSU.

A campus chemistry honorary society was established by me in 1981 called Mu Sigma Chi with plans being made immediately to become a chapter of the national honorary, Phi Lambda Upsilon. The petition was approved in 1985, and the official installation was performed by national officers on the MSU campus the fall of 1986. The chapter is active and has a special outreach to high school chemistry students by giving demonstrations and discussions of chemistry to interested young minds on the importance and excitement of chemistry.

B. Experience Overseas. Working closely with scientists throughout the world has twofold benefits: the researcher is stimulated to perform at a higher level, and his university is recognized as a contributor to scholarship and research on an international scale.

1. Sweden

As Visiting Professor of Chemistry at the University of Uppsala, 12 months was spent in Sweden working in the research group headed by Professor PerOlov Lowdin. I directed a portion of one student's dissertation, attended several international symposia, completed several research projects, attended the Nobel Prize Ceremony, worked with a member of the Physics Nobel selection committee, and received a grant from the Swedish Research Council. I returned to Sweden as Visiting Professor for the summer of 1979 with a grant from the Swedish Research Council to complete several research topics in Theoretical Chemistry. In the summer of 1982 I gave a research presentation at the Fourth International Congress in Quantum Chemistry held at Uppsala. Contacts with members of the group continue to the present.

2. Norway

I was an invited participant at an international symposium on Quantum Chemistry in August of 1976 and had research discussions with a professor in Bergen, Norway form 19791982.

3. Denmark

I spent part of the summer of 1980 at the University of Aarhus to work on a research project in the Theoretical Chemistry Group and to give a special seminar on Intermolecular Forces. Contact with this group continued for several years.

4. England

I spent part of the summer of 1980 at ImperialCollege in London working with a professor from ChelseaCollege, University of London, to complete the writing of a review article on the theory of cooperative phenomena in lipid systems. Contact continued for many years.

1

SELECTED MSU SERVICE ACTIVITIES:

I served on many committees, advisory groups, and as minor professor and committee member for many graduate students during my tenure at MississippiStateUniversity. The following were selected as examples of service.

1. University Computer Advisory Committee

I served on this committee for 18 years and was involved in most major decisions concerning the computer center such as selection of the Director, directions for the Center, and major purchases.

2. UniversityInstrumentCenter Committee (Organizer)

I organized this committee to coordinate large instrument purchases, to obtain maintenance support of equipment, to keep lists of all equipment on campus which is available for general use, to obtain solvent storage facilities, and to study the development of a campus chemical stockroom system.

3. Coordinator, Chemistry Department Development Fund

I established this fund to obtain support for chemical research and teaching programs from private sources. The fund attracted money from alumni and foundations for research and teaching equipment and for scholarships for academically talented undergraduates.

4. Coordinator, Physical Chemistry Laboratories

I had to completely revamp these laboratories from 19701974. New experiments were designed, two laboratory manuals were written, and computer programs were written to perform the data reductions required.