Henry Joseph Shine

Dr. Henry Joseph Shine passed away peacefully in Lubbock, Texas on June 25, 2024 at the age of 101. He was born in the East End of London on January 4, 1923, the third of four children, to Esther (Stella) Shine Laing (née Leucovitch) and Nathan Shine. Despite being born into a working-class family in a culture where the norm was to leave school at age 14, he went on to obtain a 1st class honors BSc in chemistry and physics from University College London in 1942, followed by a PhD in chemistry in 1947 from Bedford College, University of London. Pioneering work in organic chemistry took him to Iowa State University for post-doctoral research and then on to the California Institute of Technology for further post doc research. After Cal Tech he took a job with U.S. Rubber Company in Passaic, New Jersey. While at Iowa State, he met Irving Zarember in the chemistry lab, and they became lifelong friends. Irv moved to Greenwich Village in Manhattan, where Henry was a frequent visitor. It was there that he met a vivacious theater student who became the love of his life. As he described in an interview years later, "We got to know each other, and I just fell for her. She came to dinner, and we never parted." Sellie Schneider and Henry were married in 1953 and celebrated their 71st anniversary in June. As his interest and passion were in research, he became bored with industrial chemistry and decided he was better suited for academia. In 1954 he accepted a job, sight unseen, as Assistant Professor of organic chemistry at Texas Technological College in Lubbock. The recently married couple had never heard of Lubbock and had to look it up on a map. They saw moving to West Texas as an adventure, not realizing that it would become their lifelong home. One of the first researchers at Texas Tech, Henry thrived in the work he was able to do in the Chemistry Department. He solved a long-term chemical conundrum, the Benzidine Rearrangement, leading to his discovery of the Thianthrene Cation Radical; a discovery that "spawned a new branch of chemistry and changed the way chemists look at organic chemistry." The National Science Foundation described this work as "a benchmark study, a paradigm for the field and a textbook case to pass along to new generations of students" and said of Henry "very few chemists can claim such success in their career." It is said that "his research achievements accelerated the process of Texas Tech transferring from a mainly teaching college to a Tier 1 research university." Henry was appointed as a Paul Whitfield Horn Professor in 1968, the highest recognition given to Texas Tech faculty. He served as Chair of the Chemistry Department from 1969 to 1975 during which time he oversaw the addition of the new chemistry building and had a role in the creation of the Texas Tech Medical School. Through his research he became known internationally, speaking at conferences in many countries across the world. He taught for a year at the University of Hamburg and spent a semester in France at the Centre d'Études Nucléaires. He is included in the American Chemical Society's list of 350 famous organic chemists and reviewed the work of nominees for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on behalf of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. During his time at Texas Tech, he authored over 230 publications, and a book, Aromatic Rearrangements. He received numerous awards including Faculty Research awards, Texas Tech Dads Association Distinguished Faculty Research award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior U.S. Scientist award, President's Academic Achievement award and Texas Tech Dads Association Faculty Distinguished Leadership award. He brought in significant research grant funding, including the longest run of grants in the history of the Robert A. Welch Foundation from which he obtained annual grants every year from 1955 to 2007. For all of his achievements, he was a modest person, content in his work and not seeking acclaim. He went to part-time teaching in 1996 and ceased teaching in 1999 but continued with research until 2011 when he was 89 and transitioned to Horn Professor Emeritus. While in his 90s, he researched and wrote an exhaustive history of Texas Tech's Chemistry Department, reviewing the contributions of past faculty members and graduate students since the department was created. He kept an office in the Chemistry Department and continued to receive Horn Professor funding which he used to support graduate students and the TTU library. He was active for many years at Congregation Shaareth Israel, serving as President of the Board of Directors as well as a Torah reader. He was an avid reader, stamp collector and investor and enjoyed the odd martini. He loved the music of Vera Lynn, languages, maps, history, books, and words (no one could beat him at scrabble). He enjoyed reading all the works of authors such as Larry McMurtry, Anita Brookner, John Le Carré, and Charles Dickens. Henry was an active member of Questers, a group of university men who gathered to talk about topics of interest. He and Sellie enjoyed supporting the symphony, theater, ballet and local artists. They relished ballroom dancing together as well as swimming and appreciated watching close football games and tennis matches on both sides of the pond. Through family trips ranging from international destinations to hiking the Big Bend, he instilled in his family a love of travel. He loved spending time in his native England where following retirement, he and Sellie spent most of their summers. They made their last trip to England in 2022 when he was 99. Friends describe him as a gentle person, hardworking, with a keen interest in others, a strong sense of ethics, and a quick wit. Borrowing from Jerry Jeff Walker's London Homesick Blues, Henry's English sense of humor really was as dry as the Texas sand. Henry was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Jack and sisters Ruth and Sadie. He is survived by his wife Sellie, daughter Stephanie and her husband Hamid of Lubbock, son Trevor and his wife Melanie of Dorset, England and grandchildren Naomi, Leah, India and Jackson. He played a hugely supportive and loving role in all of their lives and will be missed very much. He is also survived by loving nieces, nephews, and cousins in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. A memorial service and celebration of his life will take place at 6:00 pm on Saturday, August 3rd at Congregation Shaareth Israel, Lubbock, and will be live streamed. For those who wish, donations can be made to the Shine Endowed Lecture Series at the Texas Tech University Department of Chemistry (www.give.ttu.edu/shine or by mail: Shine Endowed Lecture Series, Chemistry & Biochemistry, 1204 Boston Ave., Lubbock, TX 79409-1061) or Congregation Shaareth Israel (P.O. Box 93594, Lubbock, Texas 79493-3594). To view the live streaming click here or use the below URL https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89844761064?pwd=dnpFS2pWLzlOYVgyekFERENrRjNWUT09 6:00 PM US central time, Saturday August 3rd.

Henry Joseph Shine

January 4, 1923 - June 25, 2024