A Celebration of Life for Patricia A. Thiel, age 67, of Ames, IA, was held on September 18, 2020 at the Great Hall, Memorial Union on the Iowa State University Campus. Patricia died on Monday, September 7, 2020 from breast cancer. Pat was born in Adrian, MN to Lawrence and Irene (Kormendy) Thiel, in the middle of a blizzard. She was raised on their farm near Lismore, MN and was their only child. She attended St. Anthony’s Catholic Elementary School in Lismore, and Adrian Public High School.
Pat was a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and of Materials Science and Engineering, at Iowa State University, as well as a Faculty Scientist in the Ames Laboratory. She was known for her research on the formation and evolution of nanostructures on surfaces, and surface properties and structures of quasicrystals. She earned her B.A. in Chemistry at Macalester College in 1975, where she graduated summa cum laude, and her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1981, where she won the highest award available to graduating Ph.D. students in Chemistry. After postdoctoral work at the University of Munich as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, she joined the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories at Livermore, then moved to Iowa State University in 1983, where she spent the next 37 years. Her scientific research earned many recognitions, notably membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019), the David J. Adler Lectureship Award from the American Physical Society (2010), the Arthur W. Adamson Award from the American Chemical Society (2010), and the Medard W. Welch Award of the American Vacuum Society (2014). She authored or edited over 350 scientific publications. She served on numerous boards and committees for major scientific organizations, including editorial advisory boards for 10 journals. For 6 years, she served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Physics, one of the premier scientific journals in her field. Pat was very happy to be a scientist.
At Iowa State, she supervised the thesis research of about 30 Ph.D. students and 10 Master’s students, of whom she was also very proud. She also was a dedicated teacher. She served in several administrative posts within the University and Ames Laboratory, including Chair of the Department of Chemistry. She was recognized by Iowa State with awards for undergraduate teaching, graduate mentoring, service, and research. She was grateful for the opportunity to work at Iowa State and Ames Laboratory, because it was a very stimulating and supportive environment.
Pat leaves this message: “Mammograms can fail to detect breast cancer. About 10% of all breast cancers are of a type (like mine) that go undetected by mammograms until the late stages. If you have any symptoms whatsoever, such as pain or distortion in a breast, please seek a second opinion immediately–preferably at a major cancer center, where medical staff will have lots of experience in diagnosing diverse cancers.”
She is survived by her beloved husband, Jim Evans, and beloved daughters Amanda and Ellen, whom she regarded as her greatest gifts.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Adams Funeral Home, Ames, IA.
