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The Portland Section NEWSLETTER
November 2014
CELEBRATING 53 YEARS
Vol. 53, Number 8
Prof. Maureen Hoatlin
OHSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Medical Genetics
presents a talk entitled
Meeting and Treating your Inner Mutant
7:45 PM Thurs. Nov. 13, 2014
Reed College Vollum Lounge
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland, OR 97202
Vollum College Center (building 38 on map)
http://www.reed.edu/facilities_services/reed_static_map.html
6 PM Social—6:45 PM Buffet Dinner
7:30 Announcement of New Officers—7:45 PM Talk
Abstract: Dr. Hoatlin’s research is focused on identifying and analyzing the function of the proteins in
the Fanconi Anemia/Breast Cancer (FA/BRCA) cancer susceptibility pathway. Her work has contributed
to the discovery and characterization of ten novel human genes, many with critical but poorly understood roles in hematopoiesis, cancer susceptibility (AML and other cancers), and resistance to certain
commonly-used chemotherapeutic drugs. Dr. Hoatlin’s lab pioneered a cell-free approach to analyze the
function of the FA/BRCA pathway and recently received a patent for a novel small molecule inhibitor
screen for identification of FA/BRCA pathway inhibitors and potential chemosensitizing compounds.
Visit Prof. Hoatlin’s website http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/research/research-expertise/researchers/index.
cfm?personid=1846 for more information.
Bio: Maureen Hoatlin was a project chemist at SRI International in Menlo Park CA for two years after
earning a B.S. in Chemistry from Old Dominion University. This was followed by six years as a research
associate at Genentech, Inc. She received a Ph.D. at Oregon Health & Science University for graduate
work focusing on the role of retroviruses in pathogenesis and hematopoietic cancers. She joined the
faculty in Hematology & Medical Oncology at OHSU in 1993, and was a Visiting Scientist & Professor
in the Department of Genetics at the Free University and Medical Center of Amsterdam in 1998 and in
2002. Dr. Hoatlin is a member of the strategic planning leadership for OHSU’s School of Medicine, the
Hematologic Malignancies Program, advisory board member of the Oregon Translational Research and
Development Institute, and founding co-chair of the OHSU Rare Disease Consortium.
Dinner Reservations: Visit the Portland Section announcements page www.acsportland.org and click
“online” under “Dinner reservations ...” or call the Section phone 503 230 9803 and speak clearly your
name (spell out last name), phone number, number of attendees, and meat or vegan preference. If you
make a dinner reservation but do not attend, please send your check (payable to Portland Local Section
ACS) to Bernard Carlsen, 17463 S.W. Schalit Way, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.
American Chemical Society—PORTLAND LOCAL SECTION—503.230.9803—www.acsportland.org
Remembering Maggie Geselbracht, My Mentor and Friend
By Andrea M. Goforth
Photo credit OregonLive obituary
Margaret J. Geselbracht (Maggie), Professor of Chemistry at Reed College,
passed away Thursday, September 11, 2014 of lymphoma at the age of 50.
She was a 20+ year survivor of this disease. She is survived by her husband, Tom Armstrong, and two sons, Zach and Kieran.
Maggie was widely known and loved in the chemistry community, and she
will be greatly missed. Maggie was a solid-state inorganic chemist. She
developed both a strong research program in this field, as well as some of
the best available pedagogical resources for teaching inorganic chemistry
and materials science. Furthermore, she was to many, including me, a dear
mentor and a friend.
Maggie received her undergraduate degree from Notre Dame and her Ph.D.
at the University of California, Berkeley, where she worked with Dr. Angy
Stacy. Following this, Maggie did a post-doctoral research appointment
with Dr. Art Ellis at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and then joined
the Reed College chemistry faculty in 1994. At Reed College, Maggie
became an NSF Career Awardee, and she established a thriving solid-state chemistry research program and
inorganic chemistry curriculum. With Art Ellis and several other colleagues, Maggie co-authored a unique
chemistry textbook, “Teaching General Chemistry: A Materials Science Companion,” which is a one-of-akind in that it provides accessible reading material and experiments that re-enforce general chemistry concepts
while also providing exposure to materials science and engineering topics.
Maggie was active in the Portland Local and Northwest Regional Sections of the American Chemical Society,
as well as in the national ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry. Additionally, with a network of fellow inorganic chemists at 4-year universities across the United States, Maggie developed the IONiC VIPEr (Interactive
Online Network of Inorganic Chemists, Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource) web repository of
inorganic chemistry teaching resources. I have frequently used this site to inspire my own inorganic chemistry
classroom teaching; the site has nearly one thousand learning objects from contributors across the world.
Maggie’s scholarly activities were not only national and important in a scientific sense, but also local, personal,
and inspiring. Her many classroom and research students would likely each attest to this in their own way.
Outside of the classroom, Maggie also invested in mentoring female, tenure-track chemists, including Anne
Bentley (Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR) and myself, amongst many others. Together, Maggie, Anne,
and I established the Portland State University X-ray Diffraction and Scattering Facility, which was supported
by an NSF Major Research Instrumentation award. As part of this collaboration, Maggie, Anne and I formed a
“SuperGroup” of Portland inorganic chemists and held joint group meetings once per quarter for several years.
These meetings were excellent opportunities for sharing research, getting career advice, and vetting ideas,
very useful to both students and junior professors. Maggie cared deeply about helping others to succeed in
chemistry, and I am sincerely thankful for the advice and support she provided me in the process of achieving
tenure.
Beyond chemistry, Maggie was an excellent quilter, a dog-lover, an avid outdoors enthusiast and cyclist, a serious Geocacher, and a devoted wife and mother. She was also one of the most excellent people I’ve ever known.
Despite the length and extreme challenge of her illness, she had an excellent attitude and a zeal for life. I was
fortunate to spend enough time with Maggie for this to “rub off” on me. It is easy to be negative and to find
reasons to be; it is much harder to be happy and find reasons to be, especially in such a competitive and chaotic world. A lesson I learned from Maggie is to enjoy the journey and be thankful for every day.
There will be a memorial service and life celebration in honor of Maggie at Eliot Hall Chapel on the campus
of Reed College on Sunday November 16th, 2014. In lieu of flowers, and in the spirit of Maggie’s dedication to
mentoring in chemistry, the Professor Maggie Geselbracht Women in Chemistry Scholarship has been set up
in her honor (http://reed.edu/givingtoreed/profmaggie/).