Marilyn Morgan Olmstead, BHS 1961 Dec. 8, 1943 — Sept. 30, 2020
It is with deep sadness that we observe the passing of Marilyn Morgan Olmstead, on Sept. 30, 2020. She was struck by a car while riding her bike in Davis. She was 76.
Marilyn was a professor emerita of chemistry at UC Davis, a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Crystallographic Association, and an international leader in the crystallographic study of fullerenes, or “Buckyballs.” She published more than 1,100 articles in scientific journals and had been cited more than 34,000 times. Marilyn also was an extraordinary teacher, mentor and advocate for junior faculty and students.
While Marilyn’s exceptional productivity and impact are well known, fewer people know the obstacles she had to overcome as a female scientist. Marilyn joined the UC Davis chemistry department in 1969 when she was 25. By 2000, she directed one of the most productive crystallographic labs in the world and was the most published and cited member of the chemistry department, and yet she was never offered a faculty position. Finally, in 2003, when Marilyn was 60 years old, she was appointed to the faculty as a full professor.
Marilyn was born on Dec. 8, 1943, in Glendale. She graduated from Burbank High School in 1961, earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Reed College in 1965 and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to support her graduate studies. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1969. She was the only woman in her graduating class of 40 students.
Marilyn developed an interest in science as a child. Her parents allowed her to pursue her “tomboy” interests in cowboys, stamps, rocks and insects, and when she was 8, bought her a microscope.
At 12, she obtained a general operator’s license in ham radio, becoming the youngest female ham radio operator in the U.S. She built radio transmitters and antennas and communicated using Morse code with “hams” as far away as South Africa.
During summers, she worked as a draftswoman at Lockheed and a YMCA camp counselor. She was an insatiable reader and played tennis and piano. She was also Burbank High School’s homecoming queen.
Marilyn maintained these interests as an adult. She used microscopes almost daily and built and improved scientific instrumentation. She collaborated with scientists from around the world and was a visiting scholar in Switzerland, China, Malaysia and India. She was also a host mother to exchange students from Italy and Turkey.
She spent memorable days with family and friends at her cabin at Alpine Meadows, skied at resorts throughout the U.S. and hiked mountains in a score of countries. Almost every day, she biked to work and played tennis. She was an excellent cook and was always sharing recipes and expanding her repertoire. She loved her book club, playing the piano and going to concerts at the Mondavi Center. She was kind, generous and beautiful.
Despite the mistreatment she experienced as a female scientist, Marilyn remained positive. It gave her great joy to teach, advise and mentor junior faculty and students. She constantly advocated for them, sought funding for state-of-the-art research infrastructure, and imparted the skills and guidance they needed to succeed.
She said, “My graduate students have never ceased to challenge and inspire me, and I am happy to see many of them continue in professional careers. The number of women in science is no longer that surprising, but, looking back, times have changed.”
Even after her official retirement, Marilyn continued active research and mentorship and was branching into an entirely new field of chemistry. In the words of one of her colleagues, “Marilyn truly was a pioneering spirit not only in science but also as a woman. She set an example of excellence and grace we all can aspire to emulate.”
Marilyn is survived by Alan, her husband of 53 years and her greatest champion; her daughter Janis and her children Dylan and Emma; her son Nate and his wife Erin and their children Avery and Evan; and her sister Marcia. Marilyn was preceded in death by her son Eric.
The family invites well-wishers to help carry on Marilyn’s work by contributing to the Marilyn M. Olmstead Inorganic Chemistry Graduate Research Fund.
Published October 21, 2020, Enterprise, Yolo County, California
