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Donald Howard Simonsen ’43

A picture of Donald Simonsen

Donald Howard Simonsen ’43, September 27, 2004. Donald received a BA from Reed, an MA from Oregon State University, and a PhD from Indiana University in chemistry. He married Norma Sims; they had two sons and two daughters, including Susan B. Simonsen ’71. Donald was a research scientist at Upjohn from 1952 to 1956, and joined the chemistry faculty at California State University–Long Beach in 1956. He served as chair of the physical sciences and mathematics department (1960–61), and was appointed associate dean of instruction (1966), academic vice president (1967), and acting university president (1969). Donald's tenure in administration was remembered for many things, including his successful response to an escalating student protest: requesting that the campus sprinklers be turned on, rather than disburse the crowd with force. He was appointed emeritus professor at the time of his retirement in 1980. In retirement, he divided his time between Long Beach, California, and Seaside, Oregon.

Appeared in Reed magazine: August 2006

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