Exley Classroom Dedicated to Late Professor Max Tishler

Science Center Room 150 was recently dedicated in the name of a Chemistry Department icon.

Members of the Wesleyan community gathered outside the Exley Science Center classroom Sept. 6 to remember the work, mentorship and memory of Max Tishler. The classroom is now named “Tishler Lecture Hall.”

Max Tishler touched countless numbers of chemistry students at Wesleyan. He was the president of Merck, Sharpe & Dohme Laboratories during the 50’s and 60’s before accepting a faculty position with Wesleyan’s Chemistry Department. He taught from the late ‘60’s to ’75, but stayed on afterwards to do research. He passed away in 1989. His widow, Elizabeth Verveer "Betty" Tishler, was a co-partner in her husband’s legacy and a living Wesleyan legend in her own right.

The room was named through of the generosity of Joshua '73 and Amy Boger P'06 and P'09. At Wesleyan, Tishler was Boger’s mentor and with Tishler’s sponsorship, Boger rose to the leadership of Merck research before leaving to co-found Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Boger is currently the chair of Wesleyan’s Science Advisory Council and a member of Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees. The Bogers have also supported undergraduate financial aid at Wesleyan.

Speakers at the dedication included Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78; Joe Bruno, professor of chemistry and vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost; Joshua Boger; Katie Feldman ’10, a Boger Scholar; and Betty Tishler. Betty and Max Tishlers’ sons, Peter and Carl Tishler, also attended.
 

Pictured at right, Betty Tishler mingles with Gina and John Driscoll '62 of University Relations during the dedication ceremony. Pictured above, Joe Bruno speaks about Max Tishler.