Mary L. Good

Mary Lowe Good (June 20, 1931 – November 20, 2019) was an American inorganic chemist who worked academically, in industrial research and in government. Good contributed to the understanding of catalysts such as ruthenium.

Good received a number of significant awards including the Garvan–Olin Medal, the Othmer Gold Medal, the Priestley Medal, the Vannevar Bush Award, and the Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy, and Employment.

Early life and education

Mary Lowe was born on June 20, 1931, in Grapevine, Texas, to Winnie and John Lowe.

Her professors encouraged her to go to graduate school. She received a fellowship, which enabled her to study radiochemistry with Raymond R. Edwards at the University of Arkansas. At age 19, as an atomic energy research assistant, she received her first Q-level government clearance. Her graduate work involved studying radioactive iodine in aqueous solutions (used for treating thyroid conditions). She worked on processes of solvent extraction of metal complexes and described the chemical and physical properties of chemical species in an organic solvent. Expanding on her work in radiochemistry, Good became interested in using spectroscopy to study inorganic chemistry compounds, taking measurements and relating experimental results to theoretical predictions. She was able to study molecular bonding in both solutions and solid states. From 1978 to 1980, she returned to Baton Rouge to develop a new program as the Boyd Professor of Materials Science, Division of Engineering Research. Mössbauer spectroscopy enables researchers to study the interactions of gamma rays with matter, observing very small differences in the energy of electrons within atoms. This data can be used to identify the molecular structure of complicated compounds containing metal ions. and became ACS President elect as of 1986, serving as president in 1987.

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Good was also elected President of the inorganic chemistry division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 1981, and held the position until 1985, for two terms. She was the first woman to be elected a division head of IUPAC.

As head of the inorganic chemistry division, she was responsible for overseeing the work of the commissions on nomenclature for inorganic chemistry; the Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights, and the commission on high temperatures and refractory materials. Her work included supervising a complete revision of the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry or "Red Book".

Good also served on the board of directors of the Industrial Research Institute (IRI, 1982-1987). In 1981 Mary Good was chosen as vice-president and director of research. She headed the Research Center during a period of significant changes (ownership, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures), maintaining a focus on new technology development and its licensing and commercialization. She became president and director of research for Signal Research Center in 1985, and president of Allied-Signal Engineered Materials Research in 1986

Government service Mary Lowe Good held government positions under the administrations of four presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. From 1988 to 1991, she was the first woman to chair the board. All three positions were part-time commitments, held during the period in which she worked at Allied-Signal Inc.

In 1993, Good left Allied Signal to take a four-year full-time position as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology in the Technology Administration, under the Clinton Administration.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock In 1997 Good became the Donaghey University Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She also became the founding dean of the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT). She retired July 1, 2011, becoming dean emeritus of the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and special advisor to the chancellor for economic development.

Other activities In 1976 Mary Lowe Good was initiated into the Beta Phi chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma at the South Dakota School of Mines.

She was member for Fund for Arkansas, LLC and Stage 1 Diagnostics, and served on the boards of Delta Trust & Bank and St. Vincent Infirmary, Biogen Idec, IDEXX Laboratories, Cincinnati Milacron, Ameritech, Acxiom Corporation.

From 1988 to 1993 Mary L. Good was president of Zonta International Foundation, an organization supporting the involvement of women in business and science, and the improvement internationally of their legal, political, economic, educational and health status.

Good was the founding Chairman of ASTRA, the Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America, beginning in 2000. She was a strong proponent of STEM education and a supporter of women in technology, and was recognized as a national leader in this area.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) elected Good to serve as the president in 2001.

Death Good died at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 20, 2019, at the age of 88.

Awards

1969 Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award 1973 Garvan-Olin Medal 1982 Scientist of the Year, Industrial Research and Development Magazine 1987 Member of the National Academy of Engineering for both materials and chemical engineering 1988 The Delmer S. Fahrney Medal of the Franklin Institute 1991 Charles Lathrop Parsons Award for Public Service, first woman recipient, from the American Chemical Society 1991 IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute, first woman recipient 1994 Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry 1996 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal, first woman recipient 1997 Priestley Medal, first woman recipient 1998 AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize, first woman recipient 1998 Othmer Gold Medal 1999 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2000 Member of the American Philosophical Society 2000 The 6th Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment