[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF KAREN E. WETTERHAHN, PH.D.

 Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I rise today to pay 
tribute to the memory of the late Dr. Karen E. Wetterhahn of Lyme, NH. 
Karen was an Albert Bradley third century professor in the sciences at 
Dartmouth College, who died of mercury poisoning on June 8 while 
working on the cutting edge of the scientific and academic communities.
  Karen, a research chemist of international reputation, spanned the 
fields of inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical toxicology. 
Sometime last year while working with dimethyl mercury, she came in 
contact with and received mercury poisoning during her studies of 
mercury toxicity. A dedicated member of the Dartmouth community, her 
work involved understanding how elevated levels of the elements known 
as heavy metals, which include chromium, lead, and arsenic, interfere 
with the processes of cell metabolism and the transfer of genetic 
information.
  Karen not only shaped the work inside her laboratory but in the 
classroom as well. Dr. Wetterhahn helped to develop curriculum in the 
life science area know as structural biology, which studies the 
structure of biologically active molecules such as DNA, RNA, and 
proteins to learn how they function.
  She was born in Plattsburgh, NY, in 1948 and graduated from St. 
Mary's High School in Champlain, NY. Karen graduated magna cum laude at 
St. Lawrence University where she earned her bachelor's degree. She 
received her doctorate from Columbia University in 1975, where she won 
the prestigious Hammett Award in chemistry. Karen was also a National 
Institutes of Health trainee at the Institute of Cancer Research, 
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, also in 1975. 
One year later she joined the faculty of Dartmouth College, in Hanover, 
NH.
  Karen also had an instrumental role in making Dartmouth's sciences 
and administration more representative of the changing faces in the 
college community. While in Hanover, she co-founded Dartmouth's women 
in science project, which was aimed at increasing the number of women 
majoring and taking courses in the sciences.
  Mr. President, Dr. Wetterhahn worked to make the world a better 
place, and she will be truly missed by all of us who knew and worked 
with her. Researchers like the late Karen Wetterhahn are important to 
the future of New Hampshire and the future of this Nation.

                          ____________________