James Nelson Shoolery's Obituary
James N. (Jim) Shoolery, a pioneer in the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), passed away peacefully on September 24 surrounded by his family. Born June 25, 1925 in Worland, Wyoming, he graduated from Albany (CA) High School in 1941. He received a B.S. from U.C. Berkeley in February 1948 and received his Ph.D. from Caltech in June 1952. He also served in the US Navy from June 1943 to December 1946 as the radar operator on the USS. Wabash. In late 1951, Jim joined Varian Associates and helped build the first commercial NMR spectrometer. During the next twenty years he developed the procedures for using NMR for chemical analysis and guided the development of improved NMR spectrometers. He wrote “NMR at Work,” a decade-long series published on the back cover of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and A Basic Guide to NMR (1972). He gave thousands of lectures and published more than 160 papers. His biography is available online from Chemical Heritage Foundation.Dr. Shoolery received the ACS Sargent Award for the Outstanding Young Chemist in 1961 and the ACS Award for Chemical Instrumentation in 1965. In 1982, he received the ANACHEM Award for contributions to the art and field of analytical chemistry. In 2014, Agilent Technologies established the James N. Shoolery Award, presented annually for lifetime contributions to the field of SmallMolecule NMR Spectroscopy.Jim mentored a generation of organic chemists worldwide who recall his generosity fondly. Jim and his wife Judy have made their home in Half Moon Bay since 1998. He was a member of Rotary Club and of Community United Methodist Church. In addition to his wife Judith (nee Lindberg), Jim is survived by three sons, John of Palo Alto, Bryan (Chandra) of Arroyo Grande, and Mark (Kyle Borg) of Hollywood; two step-sons Jim (Lorraine) LaRoy of Minnetonka, MN, and John (Debra) LaRoy of Novato, step-daughter Jeanne (Scott) Powley of Neenah, WI, brother-in-law James G. (Sandra Renshaw) Lindberg of Des Moines, IA, and by thirteen grandchildren. All will miss Jim’s punny humor, adventurous spirit and unfailing love.His memorial service will be held on Saturday November 7 at 11 am at Community United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks contributions to the Shoolery Endowed Scholarship at Kalamazoo College, 1200 Academy Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006-3295; or to Community United Methodist Church, 777 Miramontes Street, Half Moon Bay 94019.
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