Letters

Progress on Superconductors

It was nice to read the news about recent progress by Rochester researchers on room temperature superconducting materials (“Super-duper Superconductors,” Fall 2020).

In the summer of 1975, as an undergraduate chemical engineering student, I worked on a NSF project for my faculty advisor on a similar research project.

My faculty advisor was Dr. Howard Saltzburg, a professor who I admired greatly for his technical knowledge and his dedication to increasing scientific knowledge through research. We worked on making Nb-Ge and Nb-Si type superconductors using chemical vapor deposition. It was a great learning experience, one I greatly enjoyed.

In 1975, handheld calculators were just starting to appear. I did not have such a calculator. But to make my calculations quicker, Dr. Saltzburg bought one such calculator for the project. He attached it securely to a fixture with a long chain and lock so it would not “walk away” if I left my lab for a break.

Times have certainly changed!

Now I find out that this area of research continues. I had wondered if anybody had made any progress in this effort. I learn, 45 years later, progress has been made, at least on a laboratory scale. I wish the research team good luck.

Thanks for the news on current research efforts.

Gary Warga ’76

Marlton, New Jersey

One More Presidential Candidate

In “Was That a US President on Campus” (Ask the Archivist, Fall 2020), the list of presidential candidates requires at least one addition.

As I recall, during Freshman Week 1967, national civil rights leader Floyd McKissick addressed students in Strong Auditorium. At that time, Mr. McKissick announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination and distributed “McKissick for President” buttons.

Naively, some of us believed that he had a serious chance of unseating President Johnson (this was before the January 1968 Tet Offensive). As it later developed, McKissick endorsed Richard Nixon and subsequently persuaded President Nixon to provide funding for building Soul City in North Carolina.

Sadly, this utopian dream turned into a failed experiment, leaving McKissick disappointed and disillusioned. An attorney, he was eventually made a judge shortly before his death.

His legacy is carried by his son and grandson, both attorneys who bear his name.

Harry Melkonian ’71

Sydney, Australia