Photo caption:听Dr Alan Happer at his Graduation.
Following a short illness, Dr Alan Happer passed away in January 2023, leaving a $1.1 million endowed bequest to be used to provide equipment for teaching chemistry at the undergraduate level at his alma mater, Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 成人大片 (UC).听
His generous bequest will benefit future students at UC鈥檚 School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, where he dedicated most of his career.
Dr Happer studied at UC, gaining his PhD in Chemistry in 1963. He joined the University鈥檚 chemistry department in the mid-1960s and remained until his retirement in the early 2000s.听
Interim Head of the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences Professor Roger Reeves says the funds will be used to provide unique learning opportunities for UC students, in keeping with Dr Happer鈥檚 commitment to helping them get ahead.听
鈥淭his is such a significant legacy that we really want it to make a big difference to chemistry students. We are currently exploring virtual reality chemistry, where there is potential for students to undertake sophisticated processes that we wouldn鈥檛 be able to do in terms of health and safety in a university setting, or even source the materials,鈥 Professor Reeves says.听
鈥淭his would make UC the only university in New 成人大片where undergraduate students will be able to investigate such inaccessible chemical processes. We are incredibly grateful to Dr Happer鈥檚 family for enabling us to help honour his legacy.鈥
Dr Happer made significant contributions to the field of physical organic chemistry, with specific interest in the Hammett equation, which relates the structure of organic compounds to their reactivity. He also authored or co-authored over 50 publications.
June Happer, Dr Happer鈥檚 sister-in-law, reflected on his dedication to the pursuit of learning, 鈥淓ducation was incredibly important to him 鈥 he didn鈥檛 have children, but he was determined his grand nephews and nieces would be able to go to university and he set up education funds for them to pursue tertiary education. He was a lovely guy who was always kind to others.鈥
Former colleague Emeritus Professor Murray Munro remembers Dr Happer as 鈥渧ery smart and empathetic鈥.
鈥淗e was a really supportive lecturer and would provide his students with an outline of his lecture right back in the 1980s, before it was a done thing, just to make sure that they got the gist of what he was saying,鈥 Professor Munro says.听
鈥淗e was also the first in his family to go to university, so I think he was very aware that he'd had a chance in life and, through this bequest, he could reward people who were perhaps not as fortunate.鈥
If you would like to make a similar impact by leaving a gift in your will, please contact Associate Director Advancement Charu Uppal on charu.uppal@canterbury.ac.nz or +64 3 369 3365, or click here for more information.听
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - Quality Education.
