President Wippman’s Writings & Remarks

Edward C. Taylor ’46

November 29, 2017

Tags In Memoriam

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

I write with the sad news that Edward C. Taylor ’46, a pioneering chemist, cancer researcher, and Hamilton benefactor, died on Wednesday, Nov. 22. The Taylor Science Center is named for Ted and his wife of nearly 70 years, Ginnie, who died in 2014. The couple also established significant endowments that have provided scholarship aid and research support for scores of Hamilton students during the past 10 years.

Ted enrolled at Hamilton in 1942 intending to become a writer, but a coin flip led him to enroll in chemistry instead of biology for a course requirement, and that launched a career highlighted by the invention of Alimta, one of the world’s most effective anti-cancer drugs. While at Hamilton, Ted quickly exhausted all of the chemistry courses offered at the time, then transferred to Cornell where he completed his chemistry degree and earned his Ph.D. But he never forgot his time at Hamilton.

“I owe my lifelong fascination with chemistry to Hamilton which is why I gave my gift to the chemistry department,” he said in 2008 when establishing an endowment to support students interested in pursuing chemistry research during the summer. “Some of the most exciting intellectual days of my life were spent at Hamilton.”

On behalf of the Hamilton community, especially the students whose attendance here is possible because of the scholarship endowment Ted and Ginnie established, I express our profound condolences to the Taylor family. Ted and Ginnie’s influence on Hamilton and our students will be felt forever.

David