Commemorating Prof. Emeritus Hartman (1931-2014)

When Prof. Standish C. Hartman (‘Stan’) retired in 2005, the Department of Chemistry held a grand celebration honoring his promotion to Professor Emeritus.  A man of quiet dignity, with a dry sense of humor, Stan seemed taken aback by the turnout and tributes.  Stan’s modesty prevented him from seeing what everyone else knew:  that during his 37-years at BU as an educator, scientist, and Chair, he was instrumental in the impressive development of the Department of Chemistry, enabling many of the programmatic structures currently in place at the interface of chemistry and biology.  It is with great sadness that we note Stan Hartman’s passing on March 24, 2014.

Stan Hartman joined the BU faculty in 1968 as an Associate Professor of Chemistry.   He had received his PhD in Biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1957. His academic career started as an instructor of Biological Chemistry (1957-1959) at MIT.  From 1959 to 1963 he was an Associate in Biological Chemistry at the Harvard Medical School (HMS).  He became an Assistant Professor in Biological Chemistry at HMS in 1964 until he came to BU in 1968.  Prof. Hartman’s research interests were in enzymology (mechanisms of enzyme action) and recombinant DNA (retroviral vectors, gene isolation and characterization, mechanisms of mutagenesis, and methods for identifying kin relationships).  As an educator he taught general biochemistry, enzymology (graduate level), physical chemistry of biomolecules (graduate level), and recombinant DNA (senior-graduate level).  He was Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 1993 to 1997, then served as Associate Chair from 1997 until his retirement in 2005.

The brief bio above itemizes the facts of Stan’s academic career.  We are fortunate in having a record of his “voice.”  Upon his retirement, we published a “special issue” of a Chemistry newsletter dedicated to his career and contributions.  The issue is primarily an interview with Prof. Hartman in which he shared insights from his nearly five decades of experience.  His long career had given him a perspective that few can match. In the interview, Stan generously shared his candid views and insights on academic life in a department that has grown and evolved in response to the students and science it serves.  Please take a moment to read the interview and appreciate what a wonderful member of the BU community we have lost.  To access the newsletter, click here.

Donations:   Stan Hartman’s family have asked that any contributions in his honor respect his wishes to benefit the Department of Chemistry.   Donations commemorating Prof. Hartman can be made as follows:

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