Wendell Atom Yee – 50th Reunion Essay

Wendell Atom Yee

1154 Willow Glen Way

San Jose, CA 95125

atomyee@aol.com

408-947-1571 (home phone)

Spouse(s): Amy Randall Yee (1984)

Child(ren): Abigail Lourinda Yee (1989), David Neil Yee (1993)

Education: Yale University BS Chemistry 1969, University of California, Santa Cruz PhD Chemistry 1977

Career: Chemistry Professor 1977–present

Avocations: I ride my bicycle to work every day when weather permits.

College: Branford

Life is short.

You have probably discovered, or rediscovered, this idea, too. I had a big wake-up call three and a half years ago—cancer of the tonsil (T2 N2b p16+ squamous cell carcinoma). I made it through the physical and psychological challenges of cancer treatment with the love of God, good doctors, and incredibly supportive family, friends, and colleagues. Now, I try to live more in the moment, to enjoy the passing of time, to appreciate the gift of time, to appreciate my wife, my children, my friends.

Life is not a meritocracy.

Beginning our freshman year, I have always thought that Kingman Brewster’s Yale had taken a big chance on me, or even made a mistake by admitting me. Compared to my classmates, I didn’t have the SAT scores nor the résumé of accomplishments. Looking back 50 plus years, I attribute my success to “soft skills,” to what emotional intelligence I had to apply in life, to persistence, to just doing the right thing, to being around people who cared for me, and to being in the right place at the right time (see below). I try to pay it forward.

Your geography is your destiny.

What if I had stayed in Albuquerque, like most of my high school classmates? Living in or near Boston, New York, and San Francisco, and traveling for personal or professional purposes, all influenced the course of my life because of people and opportunities there that I would not have encountered elsewhere. I would not have met Amy otherwise! Also, I feel sometimes I had rich Forest Gump moments of being at places and times of historical significance by chance, but being in the background. For example, meeting Max Perutz at MIT and talking with him for 10 minutes one-on-one before anyone showed up for the reception, or meeting Howard Cosell in an elevator at Columbia. What fun! You probably have your geography-is-destiny stories, too. Let’s talk at the reunion.

Yale, oh Yale.

I am so grateful for the experiences and people at Yale during those bright college years. Yale was incredibly good to me. When my father was unemployed for half of a year, a check was written as an instant loan to get me home for spring break. I remember kindness. When I was sick with a cold freshman year, the sweet woman I worked alongside in Commons took me under her wing. My teachers/professors were not just inspiring, they were for the most part warm and compassionate human beings. And then there were my classmates—you. I learned so many life lessons from you all. “But time and change shall not avail to break the friendships formed at Yale.” Boola, boola!