In Memoriam: Gerald Segal, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and former USC Dornsife dean

Gerald “Jerry” Arthur Segal, professor emeritus of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences died September 24. He was 90. Segal served as dean of the College from 1989 to 1993.

Segal’s research focused on developing new ways to better understand how molecules behave at the atomic level. As a postdoctoral student, he conducted research under theoretical chemist John Pople, work that would lead to a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Pople. 

Segal was born in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Samual Segal, a pharmacist who ran a chain of drug stores, and Anne Weinberg, a homemaker. A children’s chemistry set gifted to him by his father sparked a lifelong interest in science, as well as an enthusiasm for pursuing new things with inventiveness and curiosity.

“He was interested in how things were made, how the world could be measured and how the world could be understood through analysis. This trait also expressed itself through hobbies like cooking, carpentry, rock climbing, and opera, ” says his son Alexander Segal. “He was a romantic in a scientific world. This aspect allowed him a sort freedom found in what could be called ‘rational creativity.’”

A curious mind

Segal completed his bachelor’s degree at Amherst College in  1956. After graduation, he returned to Pittsburgh to help with the family business. Sales and business management ultimately weren’t of much interest however, so he enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University to pursue a medical degree. He soon discovered an aptitude for chemistry and switched majors, completing his PhD in 1966. 

As a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow from 1966-67, Segal continued his studies under Pople, who was then at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Together, Segal and Pople wrote several papers that remained some of the most-cited papers in their field for decades. Pople was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1988, alongside fellow chemist and physicist Walter Kohn of the University of California, Santa Barbara, for advancing the understanding of the electronic properties of materials. 

Segal joined the chemistry department at USC Dornsife in 1967, becoming a full professor in 1976. In 1973 he was a senior Fulbright fellow at the University of Orsay in Paris, France. Starting in 1983, Segal served two years as chair of the chemistry department. In 1989, Segal became dean of USC Dornsife. He stepped down as dean in 1993 and retired from USC Dornsife in 1998.  

“In terms of his contributions to science, it wasn’t just the papers he wrote but also the leadership he provided and the standards he upheld. He didn’t just vote for tenure because someone was a good person, he expected much of their academic work as well,” says Curt Whittig, Paul A. Miller Professor of Letters, Arts and Sciences and professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

Star finder

During his years with the college, Segal demonstrated a knack for identifying and recruiting exceptional scientists. 

In the early 1970s, Segal met the late George Olah at a science conference. Then at Case Western Reserve, Olah was conducting cutting-edge hydrocarbon research. This was of particular interest in an era plagued by sky-high gas prices due to the Oil Embargo. Segal set out to persuade Olah to bring his laboratory to USC but was soon met with a challenging roadblock: Olah would only move if he could bring his 17-member team with him. 

Undaunted by the complexity of such a demand, Segal secured funding and undertook the logistics for the formation of what is now the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute in 1979. He also convinced the late Sydney Benson, USC Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, who had returned to USC in 1976 from the Stanford Research Institute, to join the enterprise. 

“The institute blossomed into a world-class research institution under the leadership of both Olah and Benson, for which Segal had laid the firm foundation,” says Surya Prakash, Professor and George A. and Judith A. Olah Nobel Laureate Chair in Hydrocarbon Chemistry who is now director of the institute.

 In 1994, Olah won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his advancements in hydrocarbon chemistry. These helped to pave the way for less-polluting gasoline, more-effective oil refining and several modern drugs. It was USC’s first Nobel Prize. 

In 1973, Segal gave a talk at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. There, he met Arieh Warshel, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Segal was impressed by the young scientist’s work. When Warshel later interviewed at USC in 1975, Segal and the late Otto Schnepp, emeritus professor of chemistry, played a pivotal role in helping to recruit him.. Warshel would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2013 for developing the key principles behind computer simulations that are now indispensable in the study of chemical reactions.

“We collaborated together on significant quantum mechanical calculations. I valued Jerry not only as a colleague but also as a friend. His loss will be felt profoundly,” says Warshel.

A life of adventure

Segal enjoyed teaching students, particularly freshmen. In one memorable classroom demonstration, he tossed a small ball of frozen liquid nitrogen at a back wall, expecting it to shatter. Instead, the ball punched through the wall entirely, eliciting a sea of giggles from the class. He ​​received the USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1983 and the USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award in 1986.

Segal married Valerie Gordon in 1959. They divorced in 1979, and in 1982, he married Karen Segal, former director of general studies at USC Dornsife. Segal is survived by Karen, four children, two step-children and 13 grandchildren. 

He liked to test himself against nature and would often take the whole family along on his adventures. They’d hike the narrow trails of Italy’s Dolomites or ski down the Cornice precipice at Mammoth Mountain, with Segal always in the lead. It was yet another way for him to put his curiosity to work, says his son. 

“He looked at challenges with a creatively broad eye. When he saw a steep ski couloir, a cold granite mountain climbing route, or even an osso buco recipe, he approached them all with the same mindset: ‘How do I navigate that’, and then, ‘I can’t believe I did that.’ He was successful more often than not.”