Fred Stafford

Fred came to the University of Chicago as Director of Special Projects (Office of the VP for Research) building on a career as professor and founding program director for Solid State Chemistry at the National Science Foundation. By thinking like a program director, he has helped faculty attract large scale center grants and early career development awards. Now formally retired, he continues to help early career faculty and graduate students. He loves classical music because, as a child, he heard so much of it skillfully used in programs such as theLone Ranger. He still gets a thrill from the William Tell overture but shudders at memories of Tonto the faithful Indian companion, Rochester and Kato the chauffeurs, Lothar the strong man, the Asp and Punjab, and Wash the stable hand. Hooray for astronaut Mae Jemison.