In Memoriam

John Holloway

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John Holloway, geochemist, died on September 6 after a long bout with Alzheimer’s disease. Following a stint in the military and a Ph.D. from Penn State University, John became a leading experimental petrologist at ASU, where he joined the faculty of the Chemistry and Geology Departments in 1969. John’s research covered the range from explosive volcanism to the nature of minerals in the deep Earth and Mars, to abiotic synthesis in seafloor hydrothermal systems ("black smokers").

John always brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to his research, which was in the realm of applied physical chemistry at moderate to high pressures and temperatures. Austen Angell, who worked with him on one of his numerous high impact (Nature and Science) reports said, "John Holloway was one of the most enjoyable colleagues I have known. To John, big problems were a high level game, which we are in to win. John tackled research challenges with a grin, the tougher the problem the brighter the gleam in his eyes."

He mentored many students to their PhDs and his lab was always full of post-docs and visitors. He marketed his own brand of high pressure apparatus, was important in launching new collaborative initiatives like ASU's successful NSF Material Research Group, and facilities like the School’s high pressure laboratory, and was always willing to help people interested in high pressure problems to find their way. It was John who, for instance, showed Qing Zheng, now a chief scientist of the US army, how to make controlled density inclusions of water in crystals so that water could be studied at negative pressures. But much of the time John was a bit hard to find, as he liked to be off in the field, down some volcano in South America, or checking out one of the black smokers in the mid-Atlantic ridge system. His knowledge of materials and techniques, not to mention his infectious smile, will be sorely missed.

John C. Knight

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John C. Knight, Research Professor and former Assistant Professor and former Assistant Director of the ASU-CRI, passed away from lung cancer Tuesday afternoon, September 5. 2017. Professor Knight was an expert in organic, medicinal, and natural products chemistry, as well as mass spectrometry, all focused on anticancer drug discovery.

Jack devoted his professional life to anti-cancer drug research and his private life to equally extraordinary exploration and learning. Whether it was developing isolation procedures for antibiotics and steroid bioconversion products, traveling to Cusco, Peru and other exotic locales with his beloved wife, or teaching himself to play guitar and speak Hungarian, Jack always pursued his interests with a passion.

Jack was born on August 6, 1936 in Liverpool, England, the eldest of four children. He attained both his Bachelor’s degree in Science and his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Liverpool, and in 1960, he moved to the United States to begin a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Maine. Jack’s research on steroids and other bioactive chemicals moved him across the United States: first to Stanford University, where he did a year-long post-doctoral fellowship with the famous chemist, novelist, playwright, and contraception pioneer, Dr. Carl Djerassi, then to the Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, to Arizona State University, and eventually to The Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he settled and raised his family from 1968 - 1997.

In 1997, he retired from Upjohn and returned to Arizona and to Arizona State University, where he could indulge his love of the geology of the American West, John Wayne movies, and world travel, while also working as an associate professor continuing his anti-cancer research and running the university’s Mass Spectrometry Facility under his dear friend and mentor, Bob Pettit, until his (never total) retirement in 2006. Professor Knight’s passing is a great loss!