CEMS News, Spring '05

This article was taken from the University of Minnesota's Chemical Engineering and Material Science Newsletter (CEMS News) spring 2005 newsletter. The article was a reminiscence of Wally's days at the University. And I thought I had some wild times!
daughter - Cherrie Belin Bierley

CEMS ALUMNI
SO MANY WONDERFUL STORIES: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ‘40’s
written by Wallace K. Belin (BChE, 1941) CEMS News • Spring 2005

The first thing that came to mind was having Tom Valenty (BChE, 1941, retired president Onan, Inc.) and Earl Johnson (BChE 1941) bouncing cars sideways in the parking lot, so we could squeeze my ’27 Chevrolet in the space (bought for $65). Next, came the big snow in 1940, when the streetcars stopped running. I could not get out of the E.E. building, where I was editor of the Techno-Log office, to get a bed at AXZ house six blocks away. I phoned my mother, and stretched out on a table with a big Webster’s dictionary as a pillow, and went to sleep. Slightly more serious was the initiation into AXZ and Plumb Bob (honorary scholarship and leadership), like carrying a bowling ball on an all night treasure hunt, getting lost in the tunnels under the University of Minnesota, being dressed as a girl and applying at a sorority house. We had to attend classes that morning. Tom Valenty and Orfeo Befer (BChE, 1941) were co-sufferers. Dr. Mann, Department Head of Chemical Engineering, probably had the most influence on my life vision. I really had to work hard to pass his courses and the summer lab course in making a silver bar out of the lab waste. I remember my friend, Donald Lindsten (BChE, 1940, deceased) blowing the head off an autoclave. I also remember the field trips to various manufacturing plants including the tannery (it stank) and the whiskey distillery, after which many classmates passed out in the hotel lobby after too many samples. Other memories are of winning the BMOC Tug of War with Football players on our side, and AXE winning the most active fraternity title. We had some fun when the Minnesota Daily reported a meeting as the Chemical English Society. Just for your information, Monsanto signed me up for a job in November before my graduation in June for $300/month. The first man to get a job was a fellow by the name of Willard D. Stenborg (BChE, 1941). He was a straight A student, which I was not. I stayed with Monsanto for 18 years, was plant manager at several locations and general manager of Monsanto Operations in Mexico. I then became a finances consultant (stock broker) with Smith Barney for 20 years. I retired when I was 76 years old. I almost forgot my most exciting memory. While sitting at the printers, I rushed out an editorial on how chemical engineering took the discoveries of the chemists and converted them to profitable processes for industry. Several other colleges copied the editorial with credit to me. Some praised it and some ridiculed it. All in all, I never became rich but have had a wonderful life.