A. Wallace Cordes

A. Wallace (Wally) Cordes, 79, of Fayetteville, Ark., passed away Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. He was born on June 29, 1934, in Freeport, Ill. to Arthur R. and Evelyn Vehmeier Cordes. He graduated from Freeport High School and attended Elmhurst College. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and math from Northern Illinois University in 1956 and his master's and doctorate degrees in inorganic chemistry at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 1958 and 1960, respectively. He joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Arkansas in 1959 and served on the faculty for over forty years, working in the area of X-ray crystallography in inorganic chemistry. During his tenure, he was recognized as University Professor and served as the department chairman and the chair of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Cordes had an infectious enthusiasm for teaching and working with students and faculty alike. He received numerous awards for his teaching, including the Arkansas Alumni Association Faculty Award for Teaching and Research, the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Master Teacher Award, the Burlington Award for Teaching, the C.A.S.E. Arkansas Professor of the Year, the Carnegie Foundation Arkansas Professor of the Year, and the Innovative Excellence in Teaching Award from the International Conference on Teaching and Learning. He was a charter member and past president of the Teaching Academy and was co-founder and two-time director of the Teaching and Faculty Support Center, renamed in his honor as "The Wally Cordes Center for Teaching and Faculty Support" in 2002. Dr. Cordes' research career included the publication of over two hundred papers and the direction of numerous graduate students. His research led him to international meetings and sabbaticals. He served as Chair of the Small Molecule Division of the American Crystallography Association and on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Chemical Crystallography. He was a lifetime member of the Ozark Society, serving as its president for several years. As an Eagle Scout and later a Boy Scout leader, he enjoyed camping, hiking and canoeing in the Ozarks. He attended Central United Methodist /Church in Fayetteville. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Doris Kaiser Cordes, originally from Cedarville, Ill.; their four children, David Cordes of Tuscaloosa, Ala., his wife Susan and their children Jennifer Cordes Haynes and Katherine Cordes, Janet Cordes Jones of Flower Mound, Texas, her husband Shaun and their children Bryce and Megan Jones, Karen Cordes Spence, of Springfield, Mo., her husband Rod and their children Sarah and Lauren Spence, and Roger Cordes of Houston, Texas, his wife Laurrie and their children Lance and Caroline Cordes; his sister, Sherry Fransioli of Hendersonville, N.C.; and his brother-in-law Dale Kaiser of Greenwood, Ind. A private family service is planned. Remembrances and condolences can left online at www.nelsonberna.com. Memorials may be made to the A.W. Cordes Chemistry Fund, which provides teaching awards to graduate students in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Arkansas.