Class Notes

Lanny Liebeskind ’77 (PhD) remembers walking into Andrew Kende’s lab for the first time as a new PhD student.

“I remember asking Andy when I should start my research. His succinct answer, in effect, was ‘Now!’ ” says Liebeskind, the vice provost for strategic research initiatives and Samuel Dobbs Professor of Chemistry at Emory University.

“I got the message loud and clear. It was a bit like being dropped into a professional sports team, where the coach is constantly challenging you to push yourself beyond the comfort level. In doing so, you grew in ways as a scholar and person that you never would have on your own.”

Yuh-geng Tsay ’77 (PhD) had a similar experience.

“When I toured Professor Kende’s labs, I noticed there was a memo from him posted in each cubicle of his graduate students and postdocs. Two key phrases stood out that got my attention. ‘When you are here, you should roll up your sleeves and work. If you cannot manage at least two experiments at the same time, you don’t belong to this group.’

“At that moment, I knew he would be the professor I wanted to learn from,” says Tsay, a venture partner at Vivo Capital, former senior vice president and group president at Thermo Fisher Scientific, and a recipient of the University’s Rochester Distinguished Scholar Medal.

Kende, the Charles F. Houghton Professor of Chemistry Emeritus and former chair of chemistry, was a world renowned organic chemist and inventor who specialized in the synthesis of complex molecules, including ones used for anticancer treatments. He died in February.

In a University profile, Kende once noted: “I am happiest when faced with a result that is truly counter to the best theories. That is when new insights into the nature of the physical world can be discovered.”

Robert Boeckman, the Marshall D. Gates Jr. Professor of Chemistry and recent chair of the department, was recruited to join the faculty by Kende. “He was a very astute scientist; he had a really good nose for important problems,” he says.

Kende also had a knack for identifying students, such as Liebeskind and Tsay, who had the potential to rise to the tops of their fields—and for pushing them to excel.

“He was a hard taskmaster,” Boeckman says. “But the vast majority of the more than 50 PhD students and postdocs that Andy mentored went on to perform at the highest levels. That’s a testament to how he taught them about the importance of excellence in whatever they do.”

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Kende emigrated to the United States with his family in 1939, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. After earning degrees at the University of Chicago and Harvard University, he worked in industry before joining Rochester’s faculty in 1968.

As department chair from 1979 to 1983, he worked with the University’s chief science librarian to introduce chemistry undergraduates to the wonders of a computer as a new way to search for articles and information “buried in the huge and growing body of scientific literature.” The research consisted of using an “ordinary phone” to dial a database, attaching the receiver to a portable computer terminal, typing in a request, and “within seconds” getting a printout.

Kende “enjoyed teaching,” Boeckman says, “but his real thrill was in mentoring and training his graduate students and participating in the research they did.”

Tsay remembers that when Kende returned from a business trip, “he would stop by the lab first to see how everyone was doing. This type of work ethic has inspired us not only to work hard, but to have a sense of urgency in everything you do. His teaching style empowered us to solve any technical challenge and to be independent problem solvers.”

“Armed with the skills that I learned from him as a graduate student, I was able to excel in every venture that I chose to tackle,” Tsay says.

—Bob Marcotte