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Cup of Gratitude

The Cup of Gratitude was recently placed on display in the Jacobs Academic Science Building and, of course, there is a story behind it.
 
Anthony (Tony) Wu, a UK alumnus and the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Ling Wu, was born in Szechwan, China. He graduated from high school in Taiwan and studied in Hong Kong for two years before transferring to Birmingham-Southern College, from which he received a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Physics. In September 1964, Tony enrolled in graduate school at UK to pursue a doctoral degree in organic chemistry under the direction of Prof. Walter T. (Tom) Smith, Jr. Two years later, Tony married Anna, and Tom in his new Mustang was their chauffeur on their wedding day. Tony completed his doctoral dissertation on "Chemical Evidence for the Structure of Phytolaccagenin" in 1968, and Tom was the first person to congratulate Tony as "Dr. Wu." after he passed his oral dissertation defense. In the following few months before leaving for a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, Tony also recalled that "Dr. Smith paid me the postdoctoral stipend" rather than continuing his pay as a graduate student.
 
To arrange for his new position at Penn, Tony and Anna traveled to Philadelphia. Upon their return to Lexington, a group of friends met them at Bluegrass Field with what Tony has labeled "the Cup of Gratitude," which was made by Wib Mateyka, the Department of Chemistry's glassblower, from a round-bottom flask and a funnel. His friends had planned to fill the Cup with beer as Tony was known as "one-can Wu; two he can't do," but they opted for root beer as a more appropriate alternative for the airport setting.
 
After a year at Penn, Tony accepted a position as a research chemist at the Celanese Chemical Research Center in Corpus Christi, TX, but by 1971 the U.S. economy had become shaky, and rumors of layoffs were prevalent.  Concerned that he would be without a job (with a second child on the way), Tony contacted Tom Smith, who was able to offer Tony a position as a postdoctoral scholar. (Tom's letter, which is dated one week following the birth of Tony and Anna's second child, is displayed with the Cup.)
 
During his brief stay in Lexington as a postdoc, Tony was informed by a friend (Andy Plasz) of an opening for a forensic chemist in the Milwaukee Health Department; Tony's family then settled in Milwaukee to pursue this opportunity. In 1973, Tony began his association with the Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Environmental Medicine, first as an Assistant Professor, and later as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and the Department of Pathology. In 1985, he established and became the Laboratory Director of MHC Laboratory in the Milwaukee County Medical Complex. MHC later merged with Bayshore Clinical Laboratories of Brown Deer, WI, which in 1997 formed Aurora Consolidated Laboratories (ACL), in West Allis, WI, with Tony as Clinical Toxicology and Forensics Laboratory Director. After a very successful career, he retired in 2008. Tony and Anna moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2010.
 
In the fall of 2021, Laura Sutton, the Director of Philanthropy for the UK College of Arts and Sciences, was in the Bay Area and visited Tony. With warm feelings for his many friends and his doctoral advisor, Tom Smith, who helped him at a critical point in his life, Tony asked Laura to return the Cup of Gratitude to Lexington, where it is currently displayed in the Jacobs Academic Science Building, as a symbol of appreciation. The Cup comes with Tom Smith's letter, which filled Tony with gratitude. As Tony notes, "A friend in need is a friend indeed!"
 
Upon finding that we were going to display the Cup, Tony sent the message below.
 
"Laura's visit provided exciting information for me. I was able to get in touch with two of my old friends - Glen Possley (Ph.D. under Dr. Donald Sands) and Kurt Huhtanen (Ph.D. under Dr. Joseph Wilson) - with whom I had not had contact for more than half a century! As noted in the most recent edition (fall '21) of the Chemistry Newsletter, those of us who earned our advanced degrees in the sixties and seventies are now in our senior years. Some have already passed away (e.g., Jack Steele), while others may be in poor health. I am indebted for the educational and research experiences I received at UK, which have had a lasting impact on my career. For this reason, I quoted an ancient philosopher and wrote in Chinese calligraphy-again in memory of Dr. Smith. It says, "A drop of kindness received, one should reciprocate the favor with the flow of a gushing spring." I fully realized the returning favor process is long, but I am enlightened by Lao Tze, a great philosopher who stated over 2500 years ago that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."
 
After receiving my recent gift to the UK Department of Chemistry, A&S Dean Christian Brady wrote to me and noted that, "UK Chemistry has an important role to play in facing the challenges of our time. Now more than ever, educating students in scientific thinking is paramount for our community and our world."
 
As a grateful alumnus, it seems befitting that I ask your help in keeping the Cup of Gratitude full, and the spirit of gratefulness flowing like a spring. So, please donate generously to the Department of Chemistry and count your blessings!
 
Thank you very much,
 
Anthony (Tony) Wu, Ph.D. 1968