Obituary of John S. Showell

JOHN SHELDON SHOWELL- SCIENTIST – 1925-2012 John Sheldon Showell, former program officer at the National Science Foundation (NSF), died in his Greenspring retirement community in Springfield, Virginia, February 21, after a long illness. He was 86. Born in 1925 in Camden, New Jersey, he was the son of Jack Showell and Caroline Sheldon Showell, deceased. He spent most of his early life in Pasadena, California, close to his beloved Alma Mater, California Institute of Technology, where he received his master’s degree in chemistry. As a boy, he watched part of the campus being built. “I never doubted growing up that I would go there,” he has said. He chose chemistry as his field, because he enjoyed “manipulating atoms and molecules, building new materials using physical principles.” He went on the obtain his doctorate in synthetic/organic chemistry from the University of Minnesota, and was a post doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois in organic and polymer chemistry. Dr. Showell originally planned to teach, but was knocked out of academic work and lost many other opportunities when, while an assistant professor at Rutgers University, he suffered a severe stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed, needing to relearn some of the most basic skills of life, including language and speech. However he never gave up on a career in science. With the help of mentors during his long recovery period, he was able to stay employed in the field of chemistry. He was a Sloan Foundation Research Fellow at Columbia University for two years, and then worked at the Department of Agriculture’s Eastern Regional Research Laboratory in Philadelphia as Principal Research Chemist for nine years. The invitation to come to Washington for a position at NSF in 1966 provided him with the ideal job, in his view. As the person approving funding for proposals from scientists in the field of organic/synthetic chemistry, he traveled and read widely to keep up with the latest, most promising work being done in the country. He took great pride that several of the scientists he “brought up” went on to receive Nobel prizes. Dr. Showell served at NSF for 28 years, retiring in 1994. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1991 and made a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2001. Dr. Showell’s first marriage to Florence Adams ended in divorce. In 1971 he married Ellen Harvey Showell in Arlington, Virginia, where they lived until 2004, when they moved to Greenspring. He is survived by his wife Ellen, a sister, Emily Theurich, of Murrieta, California, two sons, Jeffrey Adams Showell, of Bowling Green, Ohio, and Michael Harvey Showell, of Caldwell, West Virginia, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren. John Showell’s courage and determination in overcoming severe disabilities to pursue a successful career in science inspired others with similar challenges. He enthusiastically encouraged young people interested in science. He enjoyed classical music and loved to dance, even when walking was difficult. He was a member of the Unitarian Universalist church of Arlington. A memorial service will be held at the Chapel at Greenspring Retirement Community, 7420 Spring Village Drive (off the Franconia Springfield Parkway) on Saturday, March 3, at 10 am.