A chemist at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point retired last month after 42 years of service. C. Marvin Lang (pictured at left), professor of chemistry and Eugene Katz Distinguished Letters and Science faculty member, began his career at UWSP in 1964 when the late James H. Albertson was president.

At that time, Lang had just completed his master�s degree at UW-Madison where he had been employed by UW-Extension, teaching within the U.S. Armed Forces Institute Chemistry Project as an assistant professor. Most of his students were in the military and were serving in Vietnam. Among other explanations for late term papers from his students, Lang recounts, "I lost that assignment in a rice paddy during patrol."

Professor Lang earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Wyoming in 1970. He spent a year at Iowa State University as W. B. King visiting professor of chemistry in 1976-77, and taught summer sessions at UW-Madison as visiting professor of chemistry from 1980-1995.

Since 1980, Lang�s passion has been sharing his enjoyment of chemistry with the public through a program of chemical demonstrations, workshops and talks. Together with chemistry colleagues Don Showalter and Gary Schulfer, Lang has conducted over 600 programs and 500 invited lectures throughout the United States and Europe. Thirty to sixty presentations are given per year, often on weekends and over university breaks so as not to disrupt classroom teaching. Demonstrations have been conducted often at Disneyland and Disneyworld, four times at the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, in Finland and many other locations. Wearing tuxedos Lang and Showalter once performed chemical demonstrations for members of Congress for four consecutive days, as part of a $5.5 million American Chemical Society�s Science in American Life Exhibit in Washington, D.C.

A longtime member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Lang served on the board of directors for six years, and was awarded the group�s coveted Helen M. Free Award in Public Outreach in 1997. In 2002, he was the recipient of the prestigious Harry and Carol Mosier Award, one of only 20 people in the nation to have been accorded the honor.

Chemical philately, the collecting of science and chemistry postal stamps, is another of Lang�s interests. His collection of images is one of the world�s largest, and he uses photos of his stamps in presentations on chemically related stamps and the history of chemistry to audiences across the United States.

During his long tenure at UWSP, "the most enjoyable experience has been interacting with Professor Don Showalter," says Lang. "We�ve traveled the nation together literally preaching the good news of chemistry to anyone who�ll listen." The two continue to collaborate on chemical demonstrations, research and presentations. Lang claims his longevity at UWSP "is due to his outstanding colleagues, past and present. Their commitment to education, their desire to advance chemical knowledge, and their loyalty has made the Chemistry Department at UWSP the envy of sister campuses across the state."

Born in Chicago of Norwegian immigrant parents, Lang is thankful for his Scandinavian heritage, and says he even enjoys the taste of lutefisk. Baptized in the same church attended by football legend Knute Rockne, Lang suspects that his Norwegian background had some influence on his being hired at UWSP by former chemistry department chairman and fellow Norseman Roland Trytten. Lang has traveled extensively in Scandinavia, speaks some Norwegian with a Swedish accent (his wife is fluent in Swedish), and he has given presentations and published papers in Finnish scientific journals. For his efforts in support of Finnish chemical education, he was elected to lifetime corresponding membership in the Finnish Chemical Society in 1999, the eighth American so designated.

Lang and his wife, Louise, have three sons. Kevin, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, is a gastroenterologist at the Marshfield Clinic. Kurt, a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel stationed in North Carolina, is serving in Iraq. Kenn, an Air Force lieutenant colonel living in Virginia, has recently completed stints in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In refocusing (he doesn�t use the word "retirement") Lang will be busy with genealogy projects, chemical stamp collecting, demonstrations, lectures, research and doting on his ten grandchildren.

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