The Building of a Department

In the beginning there was chemistry, Dr. Neckers writesliterally, in the school s first curriculum in 1874and the development of the department of chemistry, nurtured by the dedication of a distinguished faculty, lent distinction to an emerging university.Concentrating on the second fifty years of the university s history, Dr. Neckers s firsthand account of the building of the chemistry department is one of growth and accomplishment. In his forty years in the university, Neckers was an active participant in university affairs, the first president of the faculty senate, and a member of nearly every university committee and council.His observations are both pertinent and acute, and his insights into campus events no doubt will bring about new interpretations of the university s recent history. Written with warmth and affection, Dr. Neckers s chronicle is nevertheless direct and principled, exhibiting his stalwart character and the forthrightness remembered by his former students and colleagues."