Harry's mentors
Helen Ogston taught me English
and music in my senior year in high school '45-'46. That was the
nominal part. What I really learned from Helen is that there was
a whole world beyond the Amargosa Valley and that I too might become
somebody in that world. She got me thinking beyond my immediate horizon.
Lauren Wright introduced me to
the fascinating subject of geology. I was running a hoist at a talc
mine in the Mojave desert at the time. From then on I was hooked
onto the idea that I might be able to do it too. And so it turned
out.
Norman Dolloff taught me about
the earth, its origins, and above all, how to think and discover
new insights. He taught me the awesome length of geologic time, a
time so vast I could hardly imagine. Norman was ahead of his time,
only now are some of his mineral extraction ideas finding use in
the marketplace. Above all, Norman was a friend.
Cutler Shepard found me in my
senior year San Jose State College so that I could graduate from
Stanford. He later arranged for me to finish a Ph.D. at Stanford
in 71. The Stanford experience redirected my life into materials
science. But Cutler's imprint was more. Like Norman and Helen, Cutler
earned my respect and friendship at the same time he challenged my
brain. Cutler was my first managerial role model.
Don Cooper enabled my return to Stanford.
Don was a unique manager on the human side. What you saw was what
he was. He recognized the value of work by others before the others
realized it themselves. He was evenhanded, calm, cool and collected.
His faith in people motivated them to justify that faith.
Kris Rosenberg found me in time
to make something worthwhile of my personhood and life. With her
my emotional equations began playing out fast and furious—hang-ups
gave way slowly at first then with gathering speed. With each minor
triumph, my damaged psyche recovered apace to what it is today in
creating this book you are reading. Kris taught me much of what you
will read in these pages. Thank you my lady; you made (and make)
my life worthwhile.
Bill Nix picked up where Cutler
left off. Never will I have his way with numbers and theory, but
enough rubbed off to get me by. Like Cutler, Bill was good with his
protégés and learned from them as he guided them into
new careers. Always ready to help, Bill provided critical insight
into a paper I am writing that completes my thinking about how metals
deform at low temperatures–thirty-five years after my time in grad school.
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