Honoring Carlos Barbas

Carlos F. Barbas III, a synthetic chemistry professor at Scripps, passed away just over a month ago. I remember first reading about his proline-catalyzed aldol reactions early in my graduate career; I assumed he'd one day share a Nobel Prize for organocatalysis.

In Angewandte Chemie, Phil Baran eulogizes Prof. Barbas well. I hadn't known, for example, that he had earned almost 60 patents (!), had founded three companies (Prolifaron, CovX, Zyngenia), and had mentored hundreds of students, all before the age of 50. Unbelievable.

To close, I'll use Prof. Baran's words:

"He had so much to live for and lived life to the fullest when he could.  

He would want all of you to do the same."

Prof. Daniel Havey, 34

source: Chemjobber

This post puts a rather final note on the emotional "Grad School Mental Health" discussion many of us wrote about two weeks ago.

A few days ago, I received a tip from a trusted source about the 'sudden passing' of a (very) young professor. A brief search confirmed the worst: Prof. Daniel Havey, a physical / atmospheric chemist at James Madison University, dead at 34. Requiescat in pacem. Further reports, passed along from the JMU Breeze, indicated that he had committed suicide. He was found in his lab.

What a tragedy.

We don't yet know why Dan felt such grief. I'm sure more details will emerge in the coming weeks. However, on the heels of our discussions earlier this month, I must speak up: we work in a highly stressful field, and the mental health of yourself and your coworkers should be of utmost concern. If you've ever felt like you can't go on, get help! Please.

In an ideal world, we'd all be writing fewer posts like these. Be well, everyone. -SAO