In Memoriam: Warner Peticolas

UO Professor Warner Leland Peticolas died peacefully on Friday, June 26th, 2009, at Sacred Heart Hospital. He was 79 years old.

Warner was born on July 29th, 1929, in Lubbock, Texas. He studied chemistry at Texas Tech University in Lubbock where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1946. He received his PhD in physical chemistry in 1954 from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He worked for Du Pont, IBM, and the California Institute of Technology before joining the faculty at the University of Oregon as a full professor.

At the U of O, Warner headed a laboratory group, conducting research in biophysical chemistry, and taught chemistry for nearly 30 years. Warner attained world status as a leading expert in the field of Raman Spectroscopy which he pushed into many new biological directions. He was invited to the Institute Max Von Laue-Paul Langevin in Grenoble, France (1973-1974). He worked at the Université 6 in Paris, France (1980-1981), and Stuttgart, Germany (1984-1985) where he was invited to work at the Max Planck Institute after winning a Von Humboldt Scholarship Award.

Warner is survived by his first wife, Priscilla Schleich of Santa Cruz, CA, his second wife, Virginia Wolf Peticolas of Eugene, OR and his five children: Cynthia Peticolas-Sherbondy from Stockton, KS; Nina Tanti from San José, CA; Phillip Peticolas from Eugene, OR; Laura Peticolas from Berkeley, CA and Alicia Kelley from Boston, MA. He is also survived by his sister, Lola Gilbert from Albuquerque, NM and 10 grandchildren.

A celebration of Warner's life was held August 1st, 2009 2:00pm-4:00pm at the Fir Room in the EMU at the University of Oregon.