I was both fortunate and blessed...

I was both fortunate and blessed to have had Ted Taylor as my Ph.D. mentor at Princeton, '62-'67. His joyful curiosity was infectious and if one was down with not-so-great developments in one's research, after 15 minutes one was rejuvenated and smiling. I came with fairly good lab training, but I learned so much more working with Ted. I ended up with a three-part thesis (which raised a few eyebrows), but I was successful in both of my industrial careers. Five years in the lab synthesizing agricultural chemicals established me as the best heterocyclic chemist in the two companies, and his mentorship in the searching and use of the literature led to my decades-long and successful career in chemical information.

Good to see the testimonial from Woody Hawks, a labmate for my last years at Princeton. I must have left before the "raid," but I remembered that I had asked Ted if I could work on the THC project back in '63 after his seminar on the topic. He said he had a postdoc coming in to work on it, and she and I became friends and I was familiar with the research. As I recall, the Taylor group got "scooped" by a group overseas due to some non-industrial "espionage." C'est la vie.

Ted was a remarkable Renaissance Man, outstanding chemist, mentor, athlete, and musician. He will be sorely missed by many.