Peet-Mayor Endowed Chemistry Award

This award is presented each year to the top graduating chemistry or biochemistry major, and it consists of a monetary prize.  The recipient must have a minimum overall 3.2 GPA and have completed at least 45 hours at EMU, including 18 hours in Chemistry.  From its inception through 2008, it was known as the Bert W. Peet Scholarship Award. For the first twenty years of its existence, outstanding juniors were also eligible to receive this award.

Bert W. Peet

A photo of Bert W. Peet.
 
A photo of Bert W. Peet.

 

Bert Peet was born in Chesaning, Michigan in 1871.  Professor Peet was a man of many interests.  Though his career passion was focused on chemistry, his studies and teachings included botany, zoology, and he was a champion for food purity and safety.

Professor Peet, educated at both Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, joined Michigan Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in 1899.  Professor Peet was a driving force behind the creation of the chemistry club in 1910.  By 1916 Professor Peet was the chair of the Chemistry Department.  He maintained his research throughout his teaching career and published in scientific journals and books.

Prior to the name Eagles being adopted by EMU, the sports teams were known as the Hurons.  This name was chosen as the result of a contest.  Professor Peet, along with two other faculty members, selected the name Hurons from the entries and it was officially adopted in 1929.

In 1941, Professor Peet retired from his role as Chemistry Department chair and went on to work for the following three years as a control chemist at the Willow Run bomber plant, where the B-24 Liberator bomber was produced.  Professor Peet was married to Edna Hope Barr Peet.  He lived until the age of 96.

Alice Riley Mayor

Alice Mayor was born on September 12, 1922 in Seneca Township, Michigan.  She grew up on a farm in Sand Creek, Michigan, graduating from astern Michigan University in 1945 with a degree in Home Economics and Chemistry.  She was the second recipient of the Bert W. Peet Scholarship Award, given to the outstanding graduating senior in Chemistry.  She went on graduate from Purdue University in 1947 was a Masters Degree in Chemistry.

She taught chemistry at the college level at Purdue, the University of Connecticut, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Akron, and several local Akron area high schools.  She was one of nine recipients of a National Chemistry Teacher of the Year Award in 1966 and served as Chairman of the Education Committee with the American Chemical Society for several years.

After retiring from teaching, she earned a bachelors degree in accounting at the University of Akron and worked as a CPA at Touche Ross and several local Akron businesses.  She was married to Rowland Mayor and had two sons, William and Thomas.

Recipients