Gary Hieftje

Meet Gary Hieftje

Heroes? I believe it is important for everyone to have “heroes” – people who serve as role models and who provide a “measuring stick” against which one’s own achievements and position can be gauged. The heroes need not be those who are more mature as scientists; indeed, some of my own heroes are former students, colleagues, and contemporaries. Also, the yardstick need not be based on science alone but can be related to such things as character, integrity, consistency, thoroughness, inventiveness, and determination. My science heroes from the past include such luminaries as Richard Feynman and Tomas Hirschfeld but also somewhat lesser-known people such as Jack Frazer, head of the Chemistry Department at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, J. Harvey Kleinheksel, classroom teacher extraordinaire at Hope College, and Stan Smith, originally of Instrumentation Laboratory.