Martin Karplus

I met Martin when we were both 8 1/2 years old, having just immigrated from Austria. His brother Robert, my sister Susi, Maritn and I regularly went to the movies on Saturday afternoons in Brighton Center at the Egyptian Theater.
It was one way of learning English.

Martin was my senior honors thesis advisor at the University of Illinois in 1958. My thesis on the pi electron spectrum of ethylene was carried out using an old mechanical Monroe calculator. He encouraged me in applying to graduate schools and they urged me to turn down Harvard when I was awarded a fellowship there (he wasn't really serious) because he liked the idea of someone turning Harvard down. I had left Harvard by the time he joined the faculty there. We managed to keep in brief contact from time to time and he delight he would express at seeing me again testified to his warmth and kindness. The world was a much better place for his life and role he played.

Heartfelt condolences to Marci and Martin's three children. Martin and I were close friends at Newton High School (now Newton North), where we would do our French translation home work over the telephone, as he lived in West Newton and I in Newton Center. Our paths diverged when we both went to Harvard College. Though we are both members of the Harvard Class of 1951, Martin graduated in 1950 by taking a summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory, of whose Society I have long been a member.

Martin was a very friend of our family for forty years. My late husband David Weaver thought Martin was an exceptional scientist and a lifetime inspiration to him and his own scientific research. You will always live in our hearts dear Martin! Elena Weaver