General, Organic, and Biochemistry Media Update

Ira Blei was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended public schools and graduated from Brooklyn College with B.S. and M.A. degrees in chemistry. After receiving Ph.D. degrees in physical biochemistry from Rutgers University, he worked for Lever Brothers Company in New Jersey, studying the effects of surface-active agents on skin. His next position was a Melpar Incorporated, in Virginia, where he founded a biophysics group that researched methods for the detection of terrestrial and extraterrestrial microorganisms. In 1967, Ira joined the faculty of the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and taught chemistry and biology there for three decades. His research has appeared in the Journal of Colloid Science, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, and the Archives of Biophysical and Biochemical Science. He has two sons, one an engineer working in Berkeley, California, and the other a musician who lives and works in San Francisco. Ira is outdoors whenever possible, overturning dead branches to see what lurks beneath or scanning the trees with binoculars in search of new bird life, and has recently served as president of Staten island’s local Natural History Club.

George Odian is a tried and true New Yorker, born in Manhattan and educated in its public schools, including Stuyvesant High School. He graduated from The City College with a B.S. in chemistry. After a brief work interlude, George entered Columbia University for graduate studies in organic chemistry, earning M.S. and Ph. D. degrees. He then worked as a research chemist for 5 years, first at the Thiokol Chemical Company in New Jersey, where he synthesized solid rocket propellants, and subsequently at Radiation Applications Incorporated in Long Island City, where he studied the use of radiation to modify the properties of plastics for use as components of space satellites and in water-desalination processes. George returned to Columbia University in 1964 to teach and conduct research in polymer and radiation chemistry. In 1968, he joined the chemistry faculty at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and has been engaged in undergraduate and graduate education there for three decades. He is the author of more than 60 research papers in the area of polymer chemistry and of a textbook titled Principles of Polymerization, now in its fourth edition, which translates in Chinese, French, Korean, and Russian. George has a son, Michael, who is an equine veterinarian practicing in Maryland. Along with chemistry and photography, one of George’s greatest passions is baseball. He has been an avid New York Yankees fan for more than five decades.