Martin Karplus was born in Vienna, Austria, one of two sons. Karplus’ father was in banking; his mother was a dietician at the family’s Fango-Heilanstalt Clinic. During the Nazi occupation of Austria, the family moved…

Sol Rosenblatt was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, one of two children. His father was in the garment industry, his mother a housewife. The family was of Russian Jewish heritage. Rosenblatt attended public…

Joseph Panetta was raised in Syracuse, New York, where he attended Le Moyne College for his undergraduate degree. While he originally wanted to attend medical school, he opted to join the work force instead and began…

Mike Bonney was born in Massachusetts and spent his life between his birthplace and Maine. His father was a commercial banker and was the CEO of the largest bank in Maine. From a young age, Bonney aspired to become a…

Thomas Wiggans grew up in Fredonia, Kansas, a small town with just a few thousand residents. Both his grandfather and father ran a local drugstore, which Wiggans worked in during his adolescence. This led to Wiggans not…

Roald Hoffmann was born Roald Safran in Złoczów, Poland, in 1937. When the Nazi Wehrmacht reached Złoczów in 1941, Roald’s family went into hiding, then into a labor camp. His father bribed the guards to allow Roald,…

Robert Kamen was born in Brooklyn, New York, but raised in Queens. His father was a stockbroker, and his mother was an author and homemaker. Kamen was interested in science from an early age, working in a lab cleaning…

Kenneth Standing grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the oldest of four children. His father was an accountant, his mother a primary school teacher and housewife. Standing says he ended up in science by process of…

Raymond March was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. March’s childhood was shaped by World War II, and by a mysterious polio-like paralysis which caused him to miss a great deal of school. He took an apprenticeship…

Florine Wise was born in her grandmother’s house and grew up in West Ambler, Pennsylvania, near her grandmother and many aunts and uncles. Her parents worked for Sperry Univac; two uncles worked at the asbestos plants.…

Sharon Cooke-Vargas and her two brothers grew up in Ambler, Pennsylvania, after their parents divorced and their mother moved there to be near her own parents. Cooke-Vargas’ grandfather, who died of asbestosis, worked…

Fred Conner, Jr., grew up in Northeast Philadelphia. Having majored in economics at Upsala College, Conner served in the Marine Corps for twelve years and then as a defense contractor in the Balkan countries and Kuwait.…

Gregory Cooke grew up in West Ambler, Pennsylvania, one of three children of a single mother. His childhood community was all black. He attended the local public schools and liked to swim in the creek, bike, fish, and…

Larry Bock grew up in Chappaqua, New York. His father was a stockbroker with Bear Stearns Companies and his mother was a professional chef. Bock attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he majored in biochemistry. He…

Tim Hughes grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of eight children; his father was a surgeon. Hughes took a degree in business from St. Francis University and started his own business. He now lives in Whitpain…

Jack DelConte grew up in South Ambler, Pennsylvania. His father worked at Keasbey & Mattison, as did his grandfather and an uncle; only his uncle and a cousin have developed asbestosis. He remembers Ambler as a thriving…

Helen DuTeau has been working with Superfund community involvement programs in the Environmental Protection Agency for more than twenty years. She explains the law that cites community involvement as an important factor…

Eduardo Rovira received a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico. Shortly after college he began working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He spent six years as an oil…

James Feeney grew up in Philadelphia and earned degrees in chemical engineering and biological sciences. He became a remedial project manager for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Ambler asbestos piles…

Dennis Gillings was born in London, England near the end of World War II. His father was a wholesale fish merchant who fought in the D-Day invasion, while his mother was a homemaker and milliner. During his adolescence,…

Gábor Somorjai was born in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II and lived a comfortable, integrated life until Anti-Semitic laws impacted the family. His paternal grandfather had converted to Judaism. His mother’s…

Enrique Iglesia was born in Havana, Cuba, one of two children. The family lived in Havana until Enrique was about fourteen years old; he was then approaching military age, at which time he would not be allowed to leave…

Carol Ann DiPietro's mother's families (Rocchino and Zangrone) left Maida, Italy, to settle in Ambler, Pennsylvania, where her great-grandfather and grandfather worked in the asbestos factory, Keasbey & Mattison…

John Zaharchuk grew up in Newburgh, New York. He attended Bucknell University and obtained a Master's in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife-to-be, who…

Anne McDonough grew up in State College, Pennsylvania. At Pennsylvania State University she majored in biology and environment and in education. She now teaches science at Wissahickon High School. Her husband is also in…