Mortimer M. Labes, celebrated chemist, pioneering researcher, and former chair of Temple’s Department of Chemistry, has died at 93
He was an expert on conducting polymers and liquid crystals, and his pioneering research is cited hundreds of times by other scientists.
Mortimer M. Labes, 93, formerly of Rosemont and Philadelphia, celebrated chemist, groundbreaking researcher, professor emeritus, and former chair of the Department of Chemistry at Temple University, died Monday, July 10, of congestive heart failure at Tidewell Hospice in Sarasota, Fla.
Known worldwide for what colleagues called his “creative, careful, and stimulating” research on conducting polymers and liquid crystals, Dr. Labes inspired a flood of follow-up investigations in the 1970s, ‘80s, and beyond when he recorded the previously unexamined electrical and thermal conductivity of polysulfur-nitride.
Other scientists rushed to build on his groundbreaking conclusions. They made significant advances in the understanding of conducting polymers, and the winners of the 2000 Nobel Prize for chemistry cited his work as a critical building block to their success.
His laboratories also focused on liquid crystals, and that scrutiny was central in developing their eventual use in computer monitors, laptop screens, TVs, clocks, and other display devices. “One of the things that is the most fun in science is working on a problem that has existed for hundreds of years and went unrecognized,” Dr. Labes told his family.
In 2004, he was named an Honored Member of the International Liquid Crystal Society for his “many contributions to the fundamental understanding” and “exceptional work over the years for molecular crystals and liquid crystals.”
Dr. Labes began his career in Philadelphia in 1957 when he took a job as senior staff chemist and then technical director of the chemistry division at the Franklin Institute Research Laboratories. He became professor of chemistry at Drexel University in 1967, moved to Temple in 1970, and was head of its chemistry department and center for materials research. He retired in 2001.
He enjoyed writing, published more than 200 research articles, and was a founder and longtime editor in chief of the journal Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals. He was a member of the American Physical Society and on the board of trustees of the Gordon Research Conferences.
He earned grants from the National Science Foundation and was a visiting professor in Israel and Japan. He held more than a dozen patents, lectured around the world, and spoke before a U.S. congressional subcommittee on energy research in 1975.
He was especially enthusiastic about the dozens of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows he mentored. “He took extraordinary steps to give them an experience that would propel them to successful research careers,” former colleagues said in a tribute.
He won Temple’s Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award and the 1979 Award for Creative Research from the Philadelphia Section of the American Chemical Society. A friend said in an online tribute that Dr. Labes “was a wonderful man and left a magnificent mark on the world for years to come.”
Mortimer Milton Labes was born Sept. 9, 1929, in Newton, Mass. Studious and inspired by some of his teachers, he excelled in school and wrote for the high school newspaper. His mother died when he was 12.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1950 and a doctorate in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954. He worked as a research chemist at the Sprague Electric Co. in Massachusetts before moving to Rosemont.
He married Mary Wright in 1953, and they had daughters Karen and Miriam, and sons Daniel, David, Jon, and Peter. After a divorce, he married Dina Shachar in 1974 and became close to her son and grandchildren. His wife, former wife, and daughter Karen died earlier.
Dr. Labes traveled the world, sang along with Harry Chapin songs, and enjoyed art and the theater. He played tennis and was especially good at Jeopardy! and Scrabble. He drove a station wagon first, then a sporty green Fiat.
He lived in an old stone farmhouse in Rosemont and liked to linger in his rose garden and under a favorite weeping beech tree. Later, after he moved to Lombard Street, he jogged downtown and stopped by his favorite eateries. He and his wife moved to Longboat Key and Sarasota in Florida several years ago.
Even as his health failed, Dr. Labes shared his lifelong optimism and patience. He continued to sing and laugh and tell stories.
He told his family: “I am having my celebration of life now.” They said: “He modeled to all of us an extraordinary approach to saying goodbye with honor and dignity. His brilliant legacy, zest for life, and unforgettable kindness will live on in the hearts of all who knew him.”
In addition to his children, Dr. Labes is survived by eight grandchildren, one great-grandson, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.
Services are to be held later.
Donations in his name may be made to the Temple University College of Science and Technology, Institutional Advancement, Conwell Hall, Suite 701, 1801 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19122.