Tom Webb Stops By

Tom Webb stopped by the Breakthroughs HQ Annex (aka the OSU Foundation) today for a visit. He’s recently “retired” from his career on the chemistry faculty at Auburn University (he kept his office there, so I suspect he’s still making frequent appearances at work).

He has maintained his connections at his alma mater, OSU, stopping by to see old and new friends a few times a year. It was especially nice to catch him today between some pretty great trips he’s taking. Most recently, he was in Scotland, next he’s going to London, then it’s back to Scotland, then maybe a visit to the German coastline after that.

Tom had the vision to establish an endowed equipment and instrumentation fund in the Department of Chemistry here. Having spent a career doing research and teaching, he well knows what happens to the enterprise when a piece of equipment breaks or a new gizmo is required to do some cutting-edge work. He’s also been generous with his annual gifts, helping the Department seize opportunites that arise on a day-to-day basis.

Here’s Tom being a very good sport:

Because The Previous Post About Our Dean Was a Little Unkind

What fun would we be having at Breakthroughs HQ if we couldn’t make fun of the Dean now and then?

Sherm took issue with the “venerable” comment, but he couldn’t really defend the “bad fashion” comment, it turns out.

Here’s another photo. He says this:

“….we’re getting beaten up on the way to Tokyo from the swell from a typhoon over Taiwan….this is what you spend nine hours in for a dive. 6 meter sphere, partly filled with electronics and three (in this case three fairly large) people…”

And this, apparently, is what he’s been eating while caught in a swell. That’s a tentacle of some kind: