Strathmore's Roundtable Biography for
Owen B. Mathre, Ph.D.

	Owen B. Mathre, Ph.D.
Biography	I was born on a farm near Helmar, Illinois and lived on a series of farms as my parents moved from one area to another as required for a variety of reasons. I attended the required grade schools that served our residences. All of these schools were traditional one room schools that were common at the time. My parents insisted that their children should do all their school work and they made it possible for all four of us to complete our education. I went on to high school in DeKalb, Illinois. Three teachers had a major influence on me that has affected me throughout my life. Mr. E.O. Hope, my advanced algebra teacher, Mr. Paul Furr, my Vocational Ag teacher and Mr. W.T. Emery, my chemistry and physics teacher who taught us the basic concepts that are traditional and encouraged us to teach each other. He set an example for us on learning new concepts and he returned to college to take a course in atomic chemistry and physics. He said it was important to his students to learn about this new area of science. I have followed this principle ever since and have promoted this approach to those with whom I have worked. As I look back at my time at Harvard, I especially remember these professors in the chemistry department (Dr. James J. Lingane, Dr. G.B. Kistiakowsky, Dr. Louis Fieser and Dr. E.G. Rochow), and the team of professors who taught the economics course. These professors taught me the importance of interrelations of their sciences and showed examples of the exciting things that could be achieved. Professor Kistiakowsky was a key scientist in development of the detonator for the atomic bomb and was the inventor of "bouncing silicone putty" while he worked in industry before he assumed his position at Harvard. Professor Lingane, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, encouraged me to apply there and provided one of my reference letters. He also taught us to use our scientific tools in our work and to avoid behaving like typical automobile assembly line workers.
Industry	Chemicals/quality
Title	President
Expertise	Quality control and quality systems
Current Organization	Chem/Qual Consulting
Type of Organization	Business services firm
Major Product	Information, consulting services
Area of Distribution	National
University/Degree	A.B., Chemistry, Harvard College; Ph.D., Analytical Chemistry, Univ. of Minnesota; Continuing education programs include American Chemical Short Courses in Molecular Spectroscopy, Modern Thermal Analysis and High Performance Liquid Chromatography
Born	November 26, 1929, Kendall County, Illinois
Affiliations	American Chemical Society; American Chemical Society, Analytical Division; International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Associated through the ACS; American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Water Works Association; Photographic Society of America (for Photomicroscopy); Sigma Xi
Hobbies & Sports	Photography, gardening, fishing
Career Accomplishments	Dr. Mathre has had several years of experience in quality assurance and control, quality systems and problem solving. He worked for the E. I. DuPont de Nemours Company where he was assigned process and product research, customer service, quality control and problem solving duties related to process control and product quality control. He also modernized the quality control operations in several plants to meet the needs of the respective businesses. Dr. Mathre developed the process for the destruction of soluble cyanides in electroplating waste water and gold mill waste water using hydrogen peroxide. He was an instructor at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and in the Short Course program for the American Chemical Society specializing in Problem Solving in Analytical Chemistry, “Good Laboratory Practices” and “ISO 9000 Quality Systems”. He also taught a course in “Practical Problem Solving in Analytical Chemistry” from the Center for Professional Advancement. In 1993, Dr. Mathre became an independent and senior consultant for CHEM/QUAL. His work there has included problem solving related to quality control in chemical operations, environmental laboratory testing, food additives and a pesticide program.
Work History	Senior Consultant, Akrion Life Sciences, 1994-present; Principal, Chem/Qual Consulting, 1994-present; Consultant, Mettler-Toledo Inc., 1998-present; Course Coordinator, Co-Lecturer for courses in the American Chemical Society Continuing Education Program
Children	Karna, Keith, Mark
Spouse	Alice Swenson
Married	August 26, 1955
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