Bertram Rowland

Bertram I. Rowland

Resident of Hillsborough

Was born on June 26 1930, in New York City, the only child of Max Rowland and Sylvia Rogosin Rowland. He died October 28, 2010. He moved to the Bay Area in 1956 and lived most of the next 54 years here. In 1976 he and his wife, Susan, moved to Hillsborough, CA, where he spent the rest of his life.

Bert is survived by his wife of 36 years, Susan, and his three children from his first marriage to Patricia Butterfield: Shawn, Celia and Kevin.

Bert took great pride and pleasure in his garden. Over the 34 years he and Susan lived in their home, he lovingly tended his roses, camellias and rhododendrons, in addition to all the other plants he carefully chose. For many years he was a volunteer at Filoli, and in 2009 he became a Master Gardener.

As a member of the Mountaineers in Seattle, he first developed his life-long love for the mountains. He was an enthusiastic back-packer in the Sierras and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2000 at age 70. His last trip to the Sierras was a pack trip to Yosemite in the summer of 2009, and his last mountain visit was in Switzerland in June 2010 for his 80th birthday.

He and Susan loved travel and visited six of the seven continents.

Bert was an avid tennis player who played his last game a month ago. He was a member of the Elks of San Mateo, where he worked out in their gym three times a week until recently, and played occasional bridge.

He received his B.S. in Chemistry from UCLA in 1950, his Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Washington in 1954, did post-doctoral research at Harvard University from 1954 - 1956, attended Stanford Law School, and received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School in 1961. He began his patent law career as a Patent Agent in the DuPont Patent Training Program (while he was in law school) and as a Supervisory Patent Attorney for the Chevron Research Corporation, and was later a partner in and Of Counsel to a number of law firms, General Counsel for a number of biotech companies. He was associated with the founding of numerous biotech companies, including SyStemix, Inc. and Pharmacopoeia, Inc. He mentored many young lawyers who eventually became well-regarded patent attorneys in their own right. The three pioneering gene-splicing patents, often called the Cohen and Boyer cloning patents, were among over five hundred patents that he wrote and prosecuted.

Always a voracious reader, in later years he became a frequent visitor to the San Mateo Public Library because the family bookshelves were overflowing. His most favorite books were biographies and histories.

His cheerfulness, sense of humor and intellect will be greatly missed by his family and many friends. He was an indomitable spirit.

The family would like to thank Dr. Ranjana Advani, who cured him of lymphoma in 2000, and Dr. George Fisher, who gave him superior treatment for pancreas cancer in 2009 and 2010. Also thanks to Mission Hospice who eased his last month.

There will be a memorial at Ralston Hall on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus in Belmont on Sunday, November 28 at 2 PM.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in memory of Bert may be made to the Oncology Research Funds for Dr. Ranjana Advani (HAIUB) and /or Dr. George A. Fisher (HAIDE) in the Division of Oncology of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University. Gifts should be sent to Development Services, P. O Box 20466, Stanford, CA 94309-0466. Checks should be made payable to Stanford University. Gifts can also be made online at givingtostanford.stanford.edu or by calling (866) 543-0243.

Gifts may also be made to the Rowland Endowed Fellowship in Chemistry at the U. of Washington. Checks should be made payable to the University of Washington Foundation with a note stating that the gift is in memory of Bert and mailed to the attention of Paul Hopkins, Department of Chemistry, Box 351700, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.

Or gifts may be made to Mission Hospice, 1670 S. Amphlett Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94402.