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It takes a great scientist to make sub-basement feel like a reasonable place to spend most of your day. I'm sorry that I'm late posting on here, but I appreciate getting to see so many meaningful memories. I only got to learn from you for a small piece of your career, but seeing so many people you've mentored gathered in one place is a really powerful testament to how much impact you've had. I can't imagine going on to a professional career without everything I've learned from. Thank you so much for everything, and hope your retirement brings you to Europe. We would love to see you.

Matt

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Exciting to hear about this next step.  I hope retirement is everything you want!  I enjoyed our interactions and hope you won't hesitate to reach out should you want a guide in the PNW

-Erik

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Congratulations on finally taking the plunge into retirement! You were an indispensable member of not only Nate's group but the wider Caltech scientific community. As a new grad student in the lab working on the float zone furnace in the BI sub-basement you helped me a ton to find my way early on. But my favorite memories of use together are the life discussions we had while washing dishes at the Lewis Group retreat at Anza Borrego - suffice it to say that I learned a lot about life and washing dishes from you. Congratulations again and hope you have a wonderful time in retirement!

-Stefan

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Bruce you have been a great example to me as to what it is to be a great scientist. There times I wanted to quit and you were always there. Who I am today has a lot to do with you. I still tell people the story of how I walked into your office and said I wanted to quit grad school and you said to me “it’s to late, you have to finish!”  Lol. I also remember other times I had challenges and you were always there to give life advice and as well as advise my science. I couldn’t have done it without out. Thanks so much Bruce!

-Don Walker

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Bruce, you’ve been such a warm and delightful presence in what can sometimes be a pretty unwelcoming world. Thank you for reminding me and all of us that good science and good care can go together. Hugs and good wishes to you!

Wendy

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Bruce,

Thanks for all the enlightening conversations, advice and good company.  It was so nice being able to just walk next door to chat and learn.  You made the time at Caltech truly enjoyable.  You and Karen really made us feel welcome.  I wish you a happy and fulfilling retirement.

Thanks again

Tony

fitchag@gmail.com

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I don't know how Caltech or Nate's team will survive without you - but that is no longer your problem!!!! I'm sure I won't be the first person to say this but my memories of Caltech are better because of you and Karen.  I'm glad we're still close and expect our gatherings to continue both on my trips to Pasadena and your trips out east to see your family.  If you find yourself bored during retirement we can work on some pranks together...though Paul said he has much more interesting hobbies to work with you on:)

Libby

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Hey Bruce, Congratulations on your retirement! I learned so much from talking to you about electron transfer and being able to work with you during my grad career. You still influence my thinking and approach to science. Thank you for all that! I hope you have fun and enjoy a your well-deserved retirement.
Tom Hamann
hamann@msu.edu

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Hi Bruce, a huge congratulations on your retirement! Thank you very much for being such an integral part of research at Caltech!

Your presence at any meeting or event was always a benefit to everyone involved. You also always provided a welcome balance to Lewis Group meetings. I appreciate your candor, broad expertise and insight, as well as your patience with whatever nonsense we were partaking in. Caltech will not be the same place without you!

Hope we have a chance to catch up some day soon!

Ethan Simonoff
ethansimonoff@gmail.com

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Congrats Bruce on your well-earned retirement! You had such an incredible impact on me as a new postdoc fresh to the US and to the intensity of Nate's group and JCAP. I appreciated your wise and honest advice about science and life. I especially remember you and Karen inviting me to your home for goodbye waffles with yogurt on top (which has been my topping of choice since!) and introducing me to Karen's cousin in Princeton so I could settle in. It's the thoughtful actions like that that really make you a truly special mentor. I hope you have a wonderful time and that we cross paths again!

Sonja Francis
sonjaf@princeton.edu

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Dear Bruce, best wishes on your retirement! I really enjoyed working with you during my time at Caltech (2001-2006); you contributed immensely both to the knowledge and the culture of the Lewis group at that time.
-Julie Biteen
jsbiteen@umich.edu

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Dear Bruce,

I'm so happy to hear you're (finally) retiring! I hope you get to do and visit all the things and places that you've wanted to. Thank you so much for being supportive throughout the years. I will always remember your kindness - whether it's giving help, advice, feedback, or just listening to someone who needed to be heard. I learned a lot about repairing XPSs, and working together made those repairing stints so much more enjoyable. I'm very grateful to have had the chance to know and work with you.

I wish you all the best, and hope our paths cross again! Wishing you and Karen love and all the best,

-Ellen
ellen.yan93@gmail.com

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I wish this photo wasn't so blurry, but it nevertheless perfectly captures the energy of early, pre-Jorgensen JCAP days. If you don't recognize yourself, Bruce, you're the one in the lotus pose on the desk in the back! Thanks for many great memories, knowledge that I picked up from you and lots of good career advice. I've spent over a decade at Caltech, and to me you're definitely one of Caltech's most memorable people and a real role model. Enjoy your next chapter!
- Slobodan Mitrovic (slobodanm@gmail.com)

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Some of the best advice I got as a graduate student was "Go talk to Bruce". I appreciated your thoughtfulness and presence in all forms of scientific discussions and always left a conversation with you with a new idea or approach to whatever I was stuck on. Most of all I appreciated the respect and interest you brought to every discussion, which kept me motivated and hungry for answers.

I can't imagine subgroups, group meetings, or group retreats without your presence. I could never tell if you were bemused or simply tolerant of the group's antics but you did let us know how you felt about the mustaches (Figure 1).

Enjoy retirement! It was nice seeing you recently. I'm looking forward to the next time we can catch up.

Paul Kempler
(pkempler@uoregon.edu)

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Bruce! It has been too long. I hope to see you sometime soon in Pasadena. It was wonderful to get you know you during my time at Caltech (and we still have the George and Martha book you sent when we had our first child!) I hope you enjoy retirement immensely. -Shannon

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Bruce! It has been too long. I hope to see you sometime soon in Pasadena. It was wonderful to get you know you during my time at Caltech (and we still have the George and Martha book you sent when we had our first child!) I hope you enjoy retirement immensely. -Shannon

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Dear Bruce,
Congratulations on your retirement!
When I was getting started in the lab at Caltech, I had entered a new and exciting world.  There was lots to learn!  I remember toiling away, slow and steady, trying to learn and digest some of the "prerequisites" for laboratory success.  I eventually found my way up to your office on the 3rd floor of the Beckman Institute.  I wasn't sure what to expect going into your office, but coming out, I was certain that I had discovered a Caltech gold mine!  You were an amazing resource to have access to for helping to navigate a successful PhD, and an amazing role model for how to keep things grounded and to see the big picture.  You'll always rank as one of the few people that have had a huge positive impact on my life.  Thanks so much for everything!  If you're ever in the NY/NJ area and want to meet up, let me know, I'll come to you!
Wishing you and Karen all the best,
Marc Woodka
mwoodka@gmail.com

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Hi Bruce, we pump into each other at Caltech campus for over 10 years now, and I can still clearly remember the very first time when I came to Caltech as a postdoc when we talked about a combinatorial screening project in front of the Noyes building, I am pretty sure you don't remember that conversion but your kindness and openness made an impression on me.  Over the years, we crossed path on the use of floating zone furnace in MMRC, lab modification at the ground level Jorgensen to house an ALD using a crane, and numerous discussions and sober realization of staff position at Caltech.  Your calm and your humor are the best, and I really appreciate all your time and hope to bump into each other in the years to come!

Happy retirement!

CX Xiang
(cxx@caltech.edu)

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Dear Bruce,
I am so grateful that we landed at Caltech at almost the same time (both coming from Long Island, no less!). You have always been so knowledgeable, helpful, supportive, and reliable, not only to me but also for so many others. You always have been a valuable and needed resource for me, and a real lifeline during challenging times. How many times have I dropped by and stayed for hours just chatting?

Thank you so much for everything. I am so grateful for all the time we've had together. I love you, and wish you and Karen all the best during your retirement.

- Kimberly Papadantonakis
kimberly.papadantonakis @gmail.com

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When I was a lowly tech even before I was a postdoc at Caltech, I slept in an empty, overpriced apartment in Pasadena that was devoid of any furniture. The day I met you, you graciously let me take an old couch from a hallway of the MMRC. Then you let me borrow an old mattress of yours soon after. That represented almost all of my worldly possessions for almost 4 months. At the time, my feelings were that your generosity had no bounds. 16 years later, after many hours of presentations, conversations, puzzling over data, and laughing sessions with you, my sum impression of you is the same. You are one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met, both in and out of science. I learned many hard and soft skills from you. From my perspective, you were one of the two best things about Caltech (with Rudy Marcus' parking spot being the other, which I used often on the weekends).

I hope you and Karen enjoy all of your free time. I hear central Michigan is a nice place to visit. I hope you guys get the chance some time!

best,
Stephen Maldonado

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Congratulations on your retirement! I’m so happy for you and I hope you enjoy this new chapter in your life. Working with you was one of the highlights of my time at Caltech! I learned so much from you and my experience with you has shaped my life since. I really appreciate all the time and attention you gave me while I was a grad student. You will be missed by future generations, but I know that many of us will continue to try to live up to your example as a leader and mentor. Thank you!! I wish you and Karen great happiness in retirement, and I hope we have the opportunity to see you again sometime in Boston, NY, or CA!

Thanks,
Judith Lattimer
Jlattimer@gmail.com

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Many congratulations on your retirement, Bruce! The mentorship you gave to so many of us at Caltech over the years was priceless. I can't help but share one anecdote that comes to mind as I think back to years at Caltech: I gave you a ride back to Pasadena once from a Lewis Group retreat at Big Bear. We had a nice long chat, and afterwards you complimented me on my safe driving! Wishing you the very best in time spent with family, friends, hobbies old or new, and whatever else you and Karen have cooked up.

-James McKone
mckone@gmail.com

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So well deserved; you were always there with help on science, my doomed paper, or for some deeply appreciated humor.  I always knew I could come to you and I always appreciated that.  I hope you have many excellent plans lined up.  Do let me know if you are in Rochester ever!

~anna folinsky (anna.folinsky@gmail.com)

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Hi Bruce, are you actually retiring? or are you going to be like those professors who say they retire, but use it to get rid of their lame paperwork/management responsibilities and still come to the office for all the science?
Either way, I hope you get to relax more, go on long vacations to the East Coast and hang out with your grandkids, and still make it to the conferences and meet ups to do the fun stuff!
Thank you for the years of mentoring, advising, and hanging out. The new students in the group will be missing you as a valuable  group leader!
Hope to say hi and have lunch together when in the area to see what you are up to.
Amanda Shing, shingading@gmail.com

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Bruce!  Congratulations, and thank you for your tutelage in science and grant-writing, and for explaining XPS to me when I joined Nate's group :)   You have had a huge impact on a generation of young scientists coming through the Caltech/MMRC/Lewis group ranks, and we all thank you for it!

cheers,   -Mike
mrose@cm.utexas.edu

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Bruce, I cannot put into words how grateful I am to have had you around to run the MMRC, guide me through the world of instrument maintenance, and serve on my committee. I learned so much from you and from my experiences as GLA. Your advice was invaluable during my PhD, as it has been for so many who have crossed paths with you. Anytime an instrument malfunctioned or an experiment catastrophically failed, I was so grateful for your calming and optimistic presence - it really kept me pressing forward! I know you will be missed very much by the students and postdocs at Caltech. Best wishes for you and Karen as you enter this new, hopefully less busy, chapter in your lives!

Noah Plymale (ooplymale@gmail.com)

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Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your support throughout the years! You are an amazing scientist and your mentorship helped me grow as an individual. I particularly remember your support as I maintained the Cary at the MMRC and the wonderful brunch we shared at your home before I left for my postdoc. I hope that you enjoy your well-earned retirement!

Best regards,

Ivan Moreno-Hernandez

ivan.moreno-hernandez@duke.edu

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Thanks for all you did for me over the years, I really appreciate having been able to learn how to work on instrumentation from you. I kind of lucked into the GLA position but it ended up changing the course of my career when I realized I enjoyed repairing the XPS more than I did using it!

Hope you enjoy your well-earned retirement!

Joseph
joseph.beardslee@pomona.edu

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Bruce, thanks for being a fantastic mentor and role model for me while I was at Caltech. I have always appreciated your quick wit, handiness with a wrench, and sound advice. I have particularly fond memories of a certain running bet we made about who would leave Tech first during one of many sessions fixing the Kratos, but I can't believe it's finally happened! I hope we have a chance to catch up soon. All the best in your retirement.

Cheers,
Annelise
annelise.c.thompson@gmail.com

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Thanks Bruce for being a great mentor and scientific role model for me and all the generations of students and postdocs at Caltech. Enjoy your retirement!
-Matt McDowell

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Best wishes for your retirement!

Jackie Maslyn

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Dear Bruce,

Congratulations on your coming retirement! I remember meeting you when you first came to Caltech and had no idea how much of an impact you would make on my science and career. How many hours did we spend together fixing random problems with the XPS? (I've included a picture of a typical day, just in case you have blocked it out of your memory!) No matter how frustrated I was, you always had an idea, a way to move forward. It was really hard to wallow in frustration and despair when dealing with your optimism and talent. Thanks for showing me each and every day how the nuts and bolts of this crazy job work. (Remember, they get sealed in a circular, not cross-wise, pattern!)

You and Karen have my very best wishes for your wonderful life ahead. Congratulations!

Lauren Webb
lwebb@cm.utexas.edu

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Thank you for your mentorship and for role modelling the life of a true scientist with your persistent knowledge seeking, attention to detail and discipline. I am looking forward to seeing your life after your first life parabola, and I know the second parabola will be awesome as well.
-EdgarDog

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Cheers to your retirement Bruce! I always appreciated the genuine interest you took in our research, and your encouragement to soldier on when we needed a push.

Nick Batara
nickbatara@gmail.com

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You always had great ideas and asked insightful questions. Enjoy your retirement, and I hope we cross paths again.
-Josh Wiensch
josh.wiensch@gmail.com

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Hi Bruce!  Congratulations on your retirement.  I really enjoyed working with you during my time at Caltech - you always had both smart advice and levity when it was needed. I learned a lot from you, both about surface science and and about patience with students.  You are an excellent role model for mentorship. I hope you enjoy your freedom from the grind!

Best wishes,

Rob Coridan
rcoridan@uark.edu

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Hey Bruce! Like so many Caltech graduates before and after me, I owe you a debt of gratitude for all the advice and hard work you put in to making things run smoothly in the background. I always appreciated your insightful comments (whether about chemistry or life) and your presence in a room was a surefire way to make a meeting just that much more pleasant. Hope you enjoy this very well earned retirement!

Fadl Saadi
(fadl.saadi@gmail.com)

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So happy for you. Thank you for all the guidance. During my time at Caltech, I probably spent majority of my time fixing the instruments with you. That's taught me a lot! So did all the comments on my projects on your feedbacks on all of my papers. Thank you so much again.

Definitely hit me up when you have a trip to Thailand. :)

Pai Buabthong
(pbuabthong@gmail.com)

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Dear Bruce, congratulations on your well earned retirement. Thank you for all your guidance during my time at Caltech. Learning how to properly read manuals and fix equipment has been very handy during my independent career. Thanks for drilling that into me. I also (almost) never uncork a wine bottle without removing the foil first now :)
I hope you enjoy your retirement.

Mita Dasog
(mita.dasog@dal.ca)

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Bruce, you were an absolute joy to work with and really helped me find my footing at JCAP. Despite being totally brilliant, you were one of the easiest people to relate to that I ever worked with at Caltech. I hope you truly enjoy a very well-earned retirement!

Josh Spurgeon (joshua.spurgeon@louisville.edu)

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Congrats Bruce! It was a great time working with you in Caltech and MMRC. Enjoy your life after the retirement! - Jingjing

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Congrats Bruce! Your mentorship truly was one of the most critical (and memorable!) parts of my time at Caltech. I hope your retirement is awesome, and hopefully we can see each other again sometime soon.

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Congratulations, Bruce! You have had a huge impact on so many people. Thank you.
Kate (kplass@fandm.edu)