Bill Fateley passed away on July 30, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 80. He touched many lives at K-State and elsewhere as a colleague, teacher, scientist, mentor, collaborator and friend. He will be sorely missed, and never forgotten. A memorial service will be held at All Faiths Chapel on the K-State campus at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, August 10. Anyone wishing to share recollections of Bill is encouraged to send those in an e-mail to eam@ksu.edu.
The family has provided the obituary below:
William G. “Bill” Fateley, Ph.D., died of cardiac arrest in Tucson, Arizona, on July 30, 2009, after a long and full life. He was a resident of Manhattan from 1972 until last year, when he and his wife Wanda moved to Green Valley, Arizona.
Bill was born May 17, 1929, in Franklin, Indiana, to Nolan and Georgia Fateley. He lived in Franklin through his college years, graduating from Franklin College in 1951 with degrees in chemistry and biology. While a student, he participated in track and was president of the science club in 1950-51. He also was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Alpha Honorary Society.
After graduating from Franklin, Bill pursued graduate studies at Northwestern University, and along the way, met Wanda Lee Glover. They married on September 1, 1953 in Evanston, Illinois. Bill and Wanda moved to Manhattan that same year so Bill could work toward his doctorate at Kansas State University, and he received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 1956. He considered a career in medical research and was accepted into medical school at Indiana University, but after one year of study, he decided to return to his interest in physical chemistry, specifically molecular spectroscopy.
After post-graduate study at the University of Maryland and the University of Minnesota, Bill accepted a position in research at the Dow Chemical Co. facilities in California and Virginia. In 1961 he was given the opportunity to perform pure research at the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, where he rose from Research Fellow to Assistant to the President.
The Mellon Institute merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology to become Carnegie Mellon University where Bill, as professor of chemistry, discovered he enjoyed interacting with students. In 1972, he returned to Kansas State University as professor of chemistry and head of the department. He retired as University Distinguished Professor in 1997.
Bill was well known in the world of chemistry and spectroscopy. He served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Spectroscopy from 1974 to 1994, and authored more than 350 publications, including numerous peer-reviewed papers and several texts. Bill was awarded several patents in instrumentation, using mathematical applications to analyze structure of matter. He was a pioneer in Hadamard spectroscopy for a variety of device configurations. Bill was the founder and president of D.O.M Associates Inc, a research and development firm in Manhattan, and co-founder of Plain Sight Systems, a company developing applications for spectroscopy. In 1995, Bill received the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) Near-Infrared Award for his work in developing a new type of diabetes glucose monitor.
He received numerous other awards in recognition of his work in spectroscopy, including the SAE Highest Award in Science, the Coblentz Award for Outstanding Contribution to Molecular Spectroscopy, Honorary Membership in the Council for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, the Sigma Xi Research Award, and the Maurice Hassler Award. Other recognition of his scholarship and important work in chemistry includes being named a Distinguished Graduate Faculty Member at KSU, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Franklin College, the U.S. Army Award for SAFEGUARD Leadership, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
Woodworking was his hobby and passion. He made more than 50 ‘tall clocks’ and many other pieces of furniture that are treasured and used by friends and family around the country. Recently, he wrote his memoirs, “Science or Fiction - The 10% Solution.” It is a collection of some of the humorous things that have happened in his journey through life, and he said about his memoirs, “My wife came up with the title because I always tell my students that 10 percent of what I say is true, and they have to worry about the other part. She’s lived with me for 56 years, so she ought to know.”
William Fateley is survived by his wife, Wanda; daughter Leslie and sons Kevin, Jonathan, and Rob and their spouses; and 11 grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 am on Monday, August 10, at All Faiths Chapel on the KSU campus. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the American Diabetes Association or Kansas State University Foundation - Scott Fateley Memorial Fund, in care of Yorgensen-Meloan Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502. Condolences may be left for the family courtesy of the funeral home by following this link:
http://www.ymlfuneralhome.com/YMLObituaryDetail.Asp?ONumber=1104&From=Upcoming
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