Ex-Dean Who Shaped Chemistry Graduate Education Remembered – News Center

Dr. Richard A. “Dick” Caldwell, who twice served as dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) at The University of Texas at Dallas, died Dec. 2 at the age of 85 in Lavon, Texas.

Caldwell, who started at UT Dallas in 1971, was instrumental in the creation of its first graduate program in chemistry, the Master of Science.

“Dick was responsible for the early hiring and trying to develop a coherent administrative structure in chemistry,” said Dr. Lynn A. Melton, who came to the University shortly after Caldwell and is now professor emeritus of science/mathematics education.

Caldwell, Melton, the late Dr. Christopher Parr and Dr. A. Dean Sherry were the first four faculty members in the fledgling program. But Caldwell stood out, Sherry said.

“He was the intellectual leader of the department as it was just getting started,” said Sherry, chair emeritus of natural sciences and mathematics.

Caldwell’s task was to create an administrative structure, new degree programs and curriculum, and then hire faculty to teach the courses.

“Dick had to sort out, ‘How do you create the gears and make them work smoothly?’” Melton said.

First, however, Caldwell had to convince University leaders that chemistry should be like other programs and not just a service department for other scientific disciplines such as molecular biology, physics and geosciences.

“That’s his No. 1 contribution to the University,” Melton said.

Caldwell, who was dean of NSM from 1980 to 1984 and from 1997 to 2003, was also speaker of the faculty in the Academic Senate from 1989 to 1991. He was named professor emeritus of chemistry in 2006 and spent the bulk of his retirement years breeding and showing golden retrievers, pugs and English toy spaniels.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961 and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1965 Caldwell began his academic career as an assistant professor for six years at Cornell University.

He is survived by his wife, Patti Branch Caldwell, and his daughters, Carol Caldwell Romashko and Robin Caldwell Griffith. He was preceded in death by Betsie Barr Caldwell, Carol and Robin’s mother.