Obituary: Art Fry, University Professor Emeritus

Art Fry, a University Professor emeritus of the chemistry department, died Aug. 23, 2011.

Fry joined the chemistry department in 1951 and played a major role in the establishment of the department’s doctoral program. For the next 40 years, he continued to provide leadership, serving two terms as department chair in the 1950s and 1960s.

He gained worldwide recognition as the “father of heavy atom isotope effects in elucidating the mechanisms of organic reactions,” for his pioneering research in the use of C-13, C-14, N-15, Cl-37, and O-18 to study the mechanisms of ketone rearrangements and numerous other organic reactions. In 1985, he was awarded the American Chemical Society Southwest Region Chemist Award.

In 1984, Fry became one of the university's first University Professors. Although he retired in 1991, he continued to be active in the department.

A memorial service for Fry will be held at Butterfield Trail Village in Fayetteville in 2012; his ashes are interred beside those of his wife in the columbarium at the First Presbyterian Church at Fayetteville.

Memorial gifts may be made to the University of Arkansas Foundation for the Fry Scholarship Fund for undergraduate students in chemistry (c/o the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CEHM 119, 1 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701).

A full obituary is available on the chemistry and biochemistry website.