Archie Spencer Wilson

Archie Spencer Wilson&bb& January 19, 1921 - June 6, 2000 Archie S. Wilson, resident of Snohomish County and former research chemist at the Hanford Laboratories, died June 6, 2000 in Redmond, Wash.&pe&Archie S. Wilson was born in Tekoa, Washington on January 19, 1921, the son of Andrew Hamilton and Viola Sledge Wilson. He grew up in Portland, Oregon and graduated from U.S. Grant High School in 1939. He enrolled in Iowa State College in 1939 and continued his schooling until January 1943 at which time he joined the Manhattan Project at Iowa State College. For the next 31/2 years he was a research associate in X-ray diffraction studies of solid structures with the late Professor Robert E. Rundle. In 1946 he was selected to participate in a special graduate studies program of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He received his B.S. in chemistry from Iowa State College in August, 1946 and matriculated into the graduate school at the University of Chicago in the fall under the Quartermaster Corps program. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees respectively in 1950 and 1951 under the direction of Professor Henry Taube, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1983. From 1950 to 1951 he was an instructor in chemistry at the University of Nebraska. In 1951 he joined the General Electric Company as a research chemist at the Hanford Laboratories in Richland, Washington. For the 20 years that he was at the Hanford Laboratores he specialized in inorganic chemistry of the fission products, mainly ruthenium, and the actinide elements especially plutonium and uranium. He was selected as a speaker at the second International Conference On the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, 1958 where he gave a paper on the extraction of plutonium from aqueous solution. In 1971, Arhie Wilson was appointed Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota. He also served as Associate Chairman of the Department from 1971 until 1978. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1989.&pe&Archie Wilson authored or co- authored 57 technical communications in the X-ray determination of solid structures, ruthenium chemistry, plutonium processing, solvent extraction of the actinide elements, computer techniques for indexing X-ray powder patterns and chemical and chemical education. he held four patents in the processing of nuclear fuels.&pe&Archie Wilson was a member of the board of trustees of Central Washington State College from 1959 to 1969. He was a 50 year member of the American Chemical Society and a past president of the Richland section, ACS, a member of Sigma Xi, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.&pe&As a youth and young man, Archie enjoyed hiking and camping in the woods and mountains of Oregon and Washington. While living in Minnesota, he learned to sail and cross-country ski.&pe&After his retirement, Archie was a resident of Snohomish Country north of Edmonds for ten years. During that time he was active in the political activities of the Democratic party in the 21st Congressional District.&pe&Archie Wilson died June 6, 2000 from pulmonary hypertension caused by sarcoidosis of the lungs. &pe&A memorial gathering to celebrate his life was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kinney on June 17 in Edmonds.&pe&Archie Wilson is survived by his wife, Ivon of Edmonds; daughter, Andrea, son-in-law, Chris Larson and grandson, Geoffrey Larson of Seattle; son, Ronald, daughter-in-law, Karen, and granddaughter, Arika Wilson of Vancouver, Wash; and son, Steve of Seattle; two brothers, Andrew Wilson and sister-in-law, Betty of Vancouver, Wash. and Milton Wilson of Portland, Oregon, and sister-in-law, Mariol Wilson of Forest Grove, Oregon; and many nieces and nephews.&pe&At his request, charitable contributions may be made to The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington VA 22203.