In Memoriam: Richard Kieft

Date
09/16/09

Richard L. "Doc" Kieft
PhD, 1973
Advisor: Brown

Richard L. "Doc" Kieft, 64, of Monmouth, Ill., died Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009, at Great River Hospice in West Burlington.

Born April 27, 1945, in Danville, Pa., he was the son of Lester and Norma Kieft.

Mr. Kieft was a full-time member of Monmouth College's chemistry department from 1975 to 2006 and member of the college's board of trustees for three years. He worked two years as a postdoctoral teaching associate at Tulane University. He graduated from Lewisburg High School in Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Dickinson College and doctoral degree in chemistry at University of Illinois.

He was the first recipient of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership in 1988 and was selected "professor of the year" by the student body in 1995. He was the first professor honored with the Garrett W. Thiessen Chair of Chemistry created at Monmouth College in 2002. He was selected as an Outstanding Young Man of America for 1980.

He was a member of Faith United Presbyterian Church, where he served as an elder and was a supporter of Light Eternal Medical Clinic in Kandithankulam, India. He was a member of the board of Warren County YMCA, Warren County United Way and Warren Achievement Center. He served as adviser to Zeta Beta Tau fraternity for 25 years, and he was the college's faculty athletic representative for 15 years.

Survivors include two brothers, John Kieft of Colorado Springs, Colo., and James Kieft of Charlotte, N.C.; two nieces; and one nephew.