Why I Give to Chemistry I recall my arrival at Carolina as if it were only a few years ago, rather than decades. An initial fascination with math and physics faded a bit as I learned that my mind worked differently than the minds of those destined for those fields. My first general chemistry course was intriguing but did not inspire. But courses in analytical chemistry with Tom Meyer, and organic chemistry with Robert McKee, sold me on the subject. Guidance and inspiration, in courses and in the lab, from Slayton Evans, Tom Baer, Ernest Eliel, and many others led to a desire to understand the workings of things.
Slayton in particular taught me that hard work and depth of understanding were more important than being smart. Slayton was also an avid fisherman and we used to wade the Eno River, fishing from bridge to bridge. So he provided education, inspiration, and recreation. Out of gratitude for his influence I have been pleased to contribute to the lectureship in his honor. The Chemistry Department was uniquely collegial. I remember nights in the lab or at the NMR machine, very primitive by today’s standards, seeing professors wandering through the labs during the night, going to bluegrass night at a local bar with the chemistry graduate students and many of the faculty, enjoying a community that was very supportive. With excellent teachers and with the opportunities provided by the Morehead Foundation, I was privileged to have a truly liberal education in the old sense of the phrase. Courses in history, music and literature, concerts and plays, and visiting artists enhanced the quality of life and caused me to explore how the various disciplines and arts fit together. These experiences enrich life even today. I was prepared for graduate school in Chemistry, but for reasons that are still a bit mysterious I ended up in medical school. The training at Carolina was good preparation for 20 years in academic hematology and oncology, and subsequently 20 years in clinical trials and clinical care. Though I’ve strayed from Chemistry, it all started in the Department. For several decades I have donated specifically to Chemistry. I am now honored, although probably unqualified to be on the Chemistry Advisory Board. I give to Carolina to honor excellent teachers and role models. I give to help support an institution facing public funding hurdles and adverse political winds. I also give because the future of our country depends on educated, resourceful, and creative young people. As we are about to celebrate the Bicentennial of Chemistry at Carolina we need to build on the past: “What’s past is prologue, what to come. in yours and my discharge.”
Spence McCachren, MD
