George Waller
March 23, 2015
George Waller, 87, was born on July 14, 1927, in Clinton, NC, and passed away March 23, 2015. His wife, Hilda, pre-deceased him in 2011 after 64 years of marriage. They are the parents of three daughters. George earned his bachelor’s degree at North Carolina State University, his MS at the University of Delaware, and the PhD in biochemistry in 1961 at Oklahoma State University. George joined the OSU Department of Biochemistry in 1956. He taught upper-division and graduate courses for 32 years, and was extensively published as author, co-author, or contributor to over 400 papers, books, journals, and bulletins, often collaborating with international colleagues. Among his many accomplishments as an academician, perhaps his most prominent venture was introducing the Mass Spectrometer to the field of Biochemistry. George served as a visiting professor in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Nobel Medical Institute, and at the Karolinska Institute. The Waller Lab, installed at OSU in 1965, was used to perform many of the pioneering studies in the US on mass spectrometry, including the identification of natural compounds; the Lab is now part of the Smithsonian. In addition, he authored a two-volume series on Biochemical Applications of Mass Spectrometry in1972, and he was the founding editor in 1982 of Mass Spectrometry Reviews. From 1969-1974, he was active in the establishment of the EPA, served as president and managing director of the Midcontinent Environmental Center Association, and served as the assistant director of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. He later became involved with phytochemicals and the emerging field of allelopathy and sustainable agriculture and was considered a pioneer in the field. His career was also distinguished with numerous significant research support grants totaling over $2 million. In 2001, he was awarded the Oklahoma Chemist Award; and on the day of his retirement, Governor Henry Bellmon issued a declaration from the State of Oklahoma, recognizing the day as George Waller Day. He and his family traveled widely and lived abroad in several different cities. He is survived by his three daughters, Anne, Rebecca, and Catherine and their respective spouses as well as by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.