Remembering Frank Kinard

The College community was saddened last summer to learn of the passing of chemistry professor W. Frank Kinard, who served his beloved university for 41 years.

Inspired by his legacy of selfless devotion to his students, three of Kinard’s former students have established a scholarship in his name. George Cobb ’82, Peney Patton ’82, Laura McConnell ’87 and Angela Lindner ’83 share their memories of a man they consider to be “one of the greatest role models of all time.”

Describe your favorite memory of Frank Kinard?

GC: At the start of every class, Frank would ask us what newspapers we’d read that day. He wanted to be sure we knew how important it was to be in touch with what was happening in the world and to be engaged in life. Life was part of our education.

LM: My first memories are of his environmental chemistry class and slides that he showed of water sampling in the ocean. This was my first exposure to the idea of environmental chemistry and the beginning of my career in environmental chemistry. The thing that I remember about Frank was his terribly cluttered office with piles of papers everywhere and also how the professors would spend time talking over coffee and laughing hysterically over various topics. Franks laugh stood out from all the others.

AL: He was an amazing paradox – staunchly private and independent yet staunchly devoted and proud of his students. I won’t ever forget our last visit together. I was visiting Charleston for Spoleto, and as usual, I called him. He told me he had a serious health issue and invited my husband, Jim, and me to his house. Because he was so private, I knew it must be very serious. We visited for 30 minutes, and we both knew it would be our final time together.

Read the full Q&A in the Spring 2014 issue of Momentum.