Dr. William Moore Endowment

Dr. William M Moore was born in Nebraska on Christmas Day 1930.  William did service in the US Army (drafted, missed the Korean action) and then went on to work for Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri. Not satisfied and ever inquisitive, he entered the graduate chemistry program at Iowa State University, working under the highly renowned Professor George Hammond.  William’s research career was centered on organic photochemistry, especially the photochemistry of riboflavins.  He went from Iowa State to the California Institute of Technology to finish his Ph.D. when Hammond moved to Cal Tech in 1958.  William did his postdoctoral studies at Cambridge University, England.  After a long-distance telephone interview with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, at the newly organized Utah State University (formerly the UAC), he accepted a position.  He became colleagues with Garth Lee, Gil Smith, Jack Spence, Tom Emery, Betty Baker, Tom Farley, Richard Olsen, and many others who began to build the up-and-coming department chemistry department at Utah State University.

In addition to his work as a chemist, William was a very loving father and grandfather.  He was particularly fond of Logan Canyon and enjoyed many backcountry ski days in that area.  He is survived by his daughter, three (3) sons and six (6) grandchildren.  His hobbies included skiing, astronomy, music, art, theatre, travel, scuba diving, hang gliding, and mountain biking.  In his senior years he loved his work in the chemistry lab and enjoyed time with the students.

The family would like you to join us in establishing the Dr. William M. Moore Scholarship Endowment to honor William.  The income of the endowment will be used to support scholarships for students studying chemistry at either graduate or undergraduate level.  Special consideration will be given to candidates who focus of study is physical chemistry and skiing powder.