On March 11 and 12, 2011, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry hosted a two-day celebration for one of its most respected and honored faculty members, Regents’ Professor Gordon Tollin.

| Please enjoy photos from the event! |
 

Professor Tollin, who is now officially retired, though still very active in his laboratory and research efforts, began his tenure in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Arizona in 1959, after having been a graduate student under the legendary Sidney W. Fox at Iowa State University and a post-doctoral fellow for the Nobel Laureate Melvin Calvin at UC Berkeley.

In the five decades that he has been at the UA, Gordon has established himself as a scientist held in the highest esteem by his students, colleagues, and collaborators who are located around the world. Never being content to take on easy problems, Professor Tollin has been a pioneer in many areas of biological energy conversion, most notably his contributions made to understanding both inter- and intra-molecular biological electron transfer reactions studied by stopped-flow and laser flash photolysis technologies and most recently to understanding the structure-function relationships of membrane bound and associated proteins first using surface plasmon and plasmon waveguide resonance.

The immense scope and breadth of systems that Professor Tollin has studied over the years, resulting in over 300 publications, was highlighted during this celebration beginning with a seminar given by a former graduate student, Dale Edmondson, who is a Professor at Emory University and a AAAS Fellow, on Friday, March 11 as part of the Department’s Biochemistry Colloquium Series. A reception and dinner at the Four Points Hotel near the UA campus was held later that evening. Talks by former students, post-docs, colleagues, and collaborators were presented on Saturday, March 12 on the UA campus (Schedule of Events).

Thank you to all who joined us in celebrating the remarkable achievements and contributions that Professor Tollin has made during his career.

Dr. James T. Hazzard (jhazzard@email.arizona.edu)
and Ms. Ellie Warder (warder@email.arizona.edu)