A
Toast Offered by Provost Marilyn Schuster
 Lâle
Burk’s interests—and her presence—have enriched the
lives of colleagues and students in practically every corner
of the College for over 50 years: in chemistry, the botanic
gardens, the history of science, music, the Mortimer Rare
Book Room, the Kahn Institute, First-Year seminars, Turkish
language, history and culture, the list goes on. Kate Queeney
calls Lâle “chemistry’s ambassador to the College and quickly
adds – and she’s an ambassador for the College.”
Lâle Burk (known then as Lâle Aka) came to Northampton via Ankara and Istanbul
in 1962 to work as a Teaching Fellow for Milton Soffer. She had just finished
her studies at the American College in Istanbul and came to Smith to complete
an M.A. in chemistry followed by a PhD at UMass under the “four college cooperative
program” in 1969. The work she did for her doctoral dissertation was at Smith
so we can honestly claim her as a double alumna. One of her awe-struck young
chemistry colleagues told me the other day that he thought it was amazing that
Lâle has taught in three successive chemistry buildings at Smith: Stoddard, Sabin-Reed
and Ford. No one else currently at Smith can say the same. True, she didn’t teach
in Lilly, the original science building, but chemistry moved to the brand new
Chemistry Hall in 1898, later to be named Stoddard Hall.
Lâle is the elder in
the department, but she is an active researcher and versatile teacher. A few
years ago, chemistry was at a turning point in the way that chemistry abstracts
would be disseminated: hard copy or on-line. Everyone knew how carefully Lâle
consulted abstracts and the pleasure she took in serendipitous discoveries that
would occur much like walking through stacks in the library and happening across
a title you weren’t looking for. Preparing for a department meeting where they
wanted to argue for a switch to on-line access only, some junior colleagues were
worried about reluctant senior colleagues and especially about offending Lâle.
To their surprise, Lâle was the first person in the department to speak in favor
of on-line abstracts. She had spent several days comparing hard copy and on-line
abstracts and concluded that the on-line worked beautifully and she saw no reason
why they shouldn’t switch over entirely.
Most of us know Lâle as a very sweet
person, but also as very persistent. I learned recently that Lâle favors steam
distillation to separate compounds in her lab. Ford Hall was built to accommodate
steam distillation, but when the faculty was ready to move into their labs, Lâle
discovered that hers was not piped for steam distillation. She was not amused,
she was, in fact, steamed. Before long her lab was properly piped. A phrase that
is used affectionately – but knowingly – in the chemistry department is: “don’t
cross the Turk.”
Lâle is always interested in thinking about new ways of teaching and in exploring
a wide range of interests. In her First-Year Seminar, “Sense and Essence in Nature,” students
learn about fragrant plants from scientific, economic and cultural points of
view. The chemistry, botany and bioactivities of plants provide a scientific
foundation for the course but students also learn about the representation of
the plants in literature and in art. By the end of the semester Lâle introduces
the new students to the Smith College Botanic Gardens, the Rare Book Room, the
Art Museum and the Science Center facilities.
Lâle has collaborated with colleagues
and with students as co-author for articles in chemistry.
But she has also contributed an article on absinthe to a
volume on historical perspectives on addiction edited by
Doug Patey; an article on exile to a volume edited by Peter
Rose, an article on the history of chemistry for the Turkish
Chemical Society. She was the organizing fellow for a Kahn
Institute project on Music and Science: From The
Creation to The
Origin. Last month the Classics department sponsored
a lecture by Kathleen Lynch in honor of Lâle’s retirement
called “Greeks Bearing Gifts: Athenian Potters and their
Anatolian Customers.”
The most recent example of her
extensive interests – and of her persistence – is
the exhibit in Ford Hall in honor of her retirement called The
Chemist in the Garden: Origins of Natural Products. Only for Lâle would Martin Antonetti allow
books from the Mortimer Rare Book Room to leave Neilson and go to Ford. Curated
by Signe Dahlberg-Wright, '14, it will be up until May 27. The exhibit is an
eloquent statement about Lâle’s extraordinary intellectual range: history, art,
science and literature combine in ancient illustrations and text. You can learn
about the medicinal properties of lobelia, catnip, poppies, the tooth-ache tree
and see early illustrations of steam distillation.
Both John and Lâle Burk have
been part of the fabric of campus life for many, many years. Their home on Crescent
Street is almost an extension of the campus. A colleague told me that her daughter
has a special fondness for the sugar cubes Lâle serves with tea.
On a personal
note—
For many years I have clocked
my morning drive to the campus from Williamsburg by noting
where John and Lâle are
along their daily walk from Crescent St. to campus. I hope
I will continue to see their profiles every morning for a
long time. And, Lâle, I hope you will teach your First-Year
Seminar again soon.
Now let’s all raise a glass
to toast our beloved colleague, Lâle Burk.
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