Edward Arnett

1922 - 2022

Edward Arnett
September 25, 1922 - May 11, 2022
Durham, North Carolina - Edward McCollin Arnett, R.J. Reynolds Professor of Chemistry at Duke University, was born in Philadelphia, the son Dr. John Hancock and Katherine McCollin Arnett, ardent workers for world peace. He was raised as a Quaker and graduated from Germantown Friends School. As a conscientious objector to the Second World War, he served two years in Civilian Public Service on a variety of assignments, including as a parachute firefighter (smokejumper) for the U.S. Forest Service. After completing his undergraduate and graduate work in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, he spent four years in industrial chemical research and two years of liberal arts college teaching. He then moved to Harvard University where he worked as a research associate for two years before moving to the University of Pittsburgh, where he taught in the chemistry department for 23 years and was a Senior Fellow of the Mellon Institute. In 1980, he came to Duke, where he served as the R.J. Reynolds Professor of Chemistry, Chairman of the Chemistry Department, and as a Senior Fellow of the Loker Institute of Hydrocarbon Chemistry at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Arnett published over 250 scientific papers and received numerous awards for his research. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and served on several National Research Council Committees, most notably he chaired the committees that rewrote the National Academy Press's bestseller, Prudent Practices for the Laboratory: Handling and Disposal of Chemicals, and the committee on "Containing the Threat of Illegal Bombings" following the bombings of the World Trade Center and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
He and his wife were founding members of The Congregation at Duke Chapel. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia; his sister, Alice Andrews of Boston; his sons, Eric Hall Arnett of Bethesda, Maryland, and Brian Hancock of Ocean City, New Jersey; and his stepsons, Elden John Gatwood of Wilmington, North Carolina, Byron Royal Gatwood of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Colin Charles Gatwood of Houston, Texas; his grandchildren, Marcos Arnett, Lucas Arnett, Graham Gatwood, Hope Gatwood, Nigel Gatwood, Olivia Gatwood, and Corin Gatwood; and his great grandson, Eli Gatwood.