Thomas Spencer

1934 - 2024

Thomas Spencer

Hanover, NH - Thomas A. Spencer, Jr., passed away on September 30, 2024, in Hanover, N.H., at age 90, surrounded by family.

Born March 31, 1934, the only child of a Bell Labs engineer and a homemaker, and raised in Chatham, New Jersey, Spencer was a professor of organic chemistry at Dartmouth since 1960. He held the chair as New Hampshire Professor of Chemistry from 1968 to 2004, and he continued his research after he took emeritus status in 2004.

A dedicated educator, Spencer mentored several notable chemists, including Barry Sharpless, who twice won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Said Sharpless in his first Nobel biographical sketch: "If some variables in my adult life were changed, I might still have made it onto these pages, but it never would have happened without Tom Spencer." Spencer was also known as a careful but demanding steward of premeds at Dartmouth, memorizing the faces, names, and hometowns of each of his students. Tom believed fervently in the mission of Dartmouth as a liberal arts college focused on both teaching and providing for university-level research.

Spencer's research interests broadened from organic synthesis to include its biochemical applications to try to understand aspects of cholesterol biosynthesis and regulation. He continued his research well into his emeritus years, concentrating on computational efforts to gain insight into how very unstable positively charged intermediaries can survive to be converted into cholesterol. He submitted his final paper for publication at age 89 in the summer of 2023.

Spencer met his wife, Patty, during their high school freshman year in Chatham, N.J. They were married in 1956. Four children followed: Karen, Rob, Jon, and Muffin. Once they got the damn kids to move out of their Hanover house, Tom and Patty moved to a home on Lake Fairlee, Vermont. They also enjoyed time at their cottage in Truro, Cape Cod, and traveling to exotic locations around the world. They spent their most recent six years at Kendal at Hanover.

Spencer received his B.A. from Amherst College, with distinction, in 1956, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1960. While at Amherst he studied chemistry and literature, and he was a left-handed starting pitcher on the baseball team. He maintained his love of science and literature throughout his life.

A lifelong baseball devotee, Spencer continued to pitch in a semi-pro league while at Wisconsin and then in the Central Vermont League. Having spent his formative years in New Jersey, he was a lifelong Yankees fan – despite living in New England for over 60 years. He did, however, convert to become an avid fan of the Patriots and Celtics.

Tom is survived by his wife, four children, seven grandchildren (Forrest and Graham Miller, Addie and Matt Spencer, Charlie Spencer, and Arlo and Obi Barrington), four children-in-law (Charles Nearburg, Deb Rogers, Cristina Martinez, and Jonny Barrington), one grandchild-in-law (Hadley Stein). He was pre-deceased by son-in-law Bart Miller.