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The following feature story appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in May, 1997.
Richard Gann '65
"Saving lives by discovering solutions to burning problems"
Richard G. Gann '65 keeps Prometheus' gift to mankind in check. By studying the problems that fire creates and seeking or discovering solutions to those problems, Gann, the chief fire scientist at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), has the opportunity to save lives on a very large scale.
While serving as chairman of the technical advisory group of the Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1990, Gann created the tests that would enable the tobacco industry to produce a less fire-prone cigarette. The tests, which simulate what happens when cigarettes are dropped on furnishings, represent an important step in eliminating the number-one cause of fire-related deaths in the United States. He readily admits that his work is very rewarding. But fire science, like his chosen field of study, chemistry, is an area that he entered quite accidentally.
Chemistry's captivating topics
A West Hartford native, Gann enrolled at Trinity intending to become a math major. Upon realizing that his decision would require him to extend his study of high school Latin for two more years, he switched his major to chemistry. "Chemistry required German. I liked chemistry in high school. I thought to myself, I'll become a chemistry major, take all the required math courses, study a new language, and eventually switch back to math," he recalls. The switch never occurred. "My freshman year I took an advanced placement chemistry course taught by now-retired Scovill Professor of Chemistry (Emeritus) Robert H. Smellie, Jr. It was fascinating. It was one captivating topic after another. I just stayed with chemistry," he reminisces.
In his senior position at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, Gann oversees 52 employees and is responsible for a program that improves public safety by developing the technology that brings fire-safe products to market. Formerly known as the U.S. Bureau of Standards, NIST, a nonregulatory agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, works with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards to promote the country's economic growth. "I work with chemists, physicists, and mechanical, civil, electrical, and structural engineers. We have toxicologists, psychologists, computer scientists, mathematicians -- this huge multidisciplinary mix of people who all work in the same general area. It's like a flashback to college," he observes.
The value of writing
Gann took full advantage of his exposure to the wide course of study available in Trinity's liberal arts curriculum. "I took music composition, a course in English composition, and one in Shakespeare." Being able to sample courses in different disciplines afforded him a significant advantage in his field, he believes. "There's an overwhelming number of scientists and engineers who can't write. They can't produce either a written or an oral presentation for an audience other than one of their closest technical peers. I came out of Trinity very comfortable with writing. I learned how to write and how to get across something in different ways for different purposes. It's been incredibly valuable," says Gann, who has authored more than 50 publications, given hundreds of presentations, and supervised the production of an equal number of others' publications.
While on campus last month to speak at the engineering department's annual fire-fighting robotics competition, which was cosponsored by NIST, Gann visited with Vernon K. Krieble Professor of Chemistry Henry A. DePhillips, Jr., who instructed him in physical chemistry when he was an undergraduate. "Dick was an excellent student," his former professor recalls. "He was a hard worker and low-key. The same effort he showed at Trinity is reflected in his work today."
Gann was graduated from Trinity with a degree in chemistry, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a doctorate in physical chemistry in 1970. His introduction to the field of fire science occurred quite serendipitously, he recalls. While at MIT studying space chemistry, he worked in the lab with another student who specialized in combustion chemistry. When his colleague was offered two postdoctoral fellowships in combustion chemistry, he suggested that Gann pursue one. With the offer of a two-year position as a postdoctoral research associate at the Space Research Coordination Center at the University of Pittsburgh in hand, Gann readily accepted. He left Pittsburgh in 1972 and spent the next four years working as a research chemist in the combustion and fire section of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. In 1976, he moved to NIST and worked his way to the position of chief of NIST's fire science division, a post he assumed 16 years ago.
"I came out of the era of the '60s. A lot of my contemporaries took jobs making bombs. I wouldn't call myself a rabid activist, but I chose the opportunity to do something clearly for the good of society," he says. "There are a lot of fields that produce ordinary things. The one I chose doesn't. That's one of the reasons why I'm still in it," he asserts.
Today Gann is working on a variety of projects, including one aimed at developing alternatives to the highly efficient -- but no longer produced -- fire suppressant Halon 1301, which is used widely in both the military and private sectors. And he is working to develop a "smart detector," a device that can detect a smaller fire more quickly than, and without the nuisance alarms associated with, conventional smoke detectors.
As he reflects on his life after Trinity Gann says, "My life has generally gone in the direction it has because of the openness and the breadth of perspective that come out of having a 'nontunnel vision' education. Trinity was exactly the right type of school for me."
-- Suzanne Zack