Faculty
Alexander Duncan Chiquoine III
Alexander Duncan Chiquoine III, who taught biology at Hamilton from 1966 to 1984, was born on May 3, 1926, in Chester, Pa., to John Chiquoine and the former Elizabeth Reinhard. Known as Duncan to friends and colleagues, he matriculated at Swarthmore College, eventually graduating in 1947 with a degree in zoology. His studies were interrupted by participation in the Navy’s V-12 officer training program at the University of Chicago.
Upon his return to Swarthmore, Chiquoine met Isabel “Ibby” Kellers. The couple married in 1950. Two years later, he received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in histology-embryology and then taught biology first for four years at Princeton University and later at Washington University in St. Louis.
The Chiquoines came to College Hill in 1966 when Duncan joined the Biology Department as an associate professor. In 1969, he was promoted to full professor of biology and in 1972 began chairing the department. A pioneer in the field of electron microscopy, his research established the alkaline phosphatase marker for primordial germ cells in mice and the concept of a blood-testis barrier. In 1984, he retired as the Stephen Harper Kirner Professor of Biology.
He was known for his intellectual pursuits, as well as for his good humor and hobbies. Friends and family recall laughing at his “corny” jokes and his love of chess, playing bridge and fishing. In fact, the “male-bonding fishing trips” to Canada with his sons and son-in-law provided the family with legendary big-fish stories. His curiosity about technology extended from ham radios to the latest computer. Mystery novels were another passion, as well as his devotion to libraries (a first stop in any town he visited). And few would be surprised to hear that he also had an interest in beekeeping.
Following his passing, stories of Professor Chiquoine’s influence radiated from the Hill and beyond, pointing the way for students and colleagues alike.
Professor of Embryology and Anatomy Emerita Sue Ann Miller, who worked with Chiquoine from 1975 until he retired, noted the challenge he presented. “Two aspects of a personality come to mind when I recall Duncan Chiquoine: a well-functioning crap detector and a devil’s advocate. Those attributes made him a challenge for students and young colleagues who were the age of his offspring. Students of the times referred to his manner as ‘Chiquoinery.’”
Thomas Ducibella ’69, retired professor of cell biology at Tufts University School of Medicine, recalls the mentoring he received from his former professor: “I’ll never forget in the fall of my senior year, going into his office to talk with him about a career in marine biology. After showing him the catalogue from Scripps, he turned to me and asked, ‘Have you read this?’ (meaning, carefully). I said (thought), yes. He said look again: plankton, phytoplankton, diatoms I and II, dinoflagellates, etc. Do you want to spend your career memorizing, counting and categorizing? Let me tell you about the emerging fields of developmental and cell biology. And, as they say, the rest is history.”
William Wright ’71, professor and head of the division of reproductive biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, recalled, “It is a remarkable coincidence that Duncan’s two major scientific contributions deal with gonadal development and function. He was the scientist who came up with the term, ‘blood-testis barrier.’ And he also developed the alkaline phosphatase cytochemical assay by which gonocytes are still identified. I now work on their descendants, spermatogonial stem cells. Many will be moved by Duncan’s death. One of the great experiences as a Hamilton student was to find a mentor on the faculty who inspired and drove us to be better than we imagined possible.”
Mark Flomenbaum ’71, chief medical examiner for the state of Maine and the medical examiner responsible for the processing of remains from 9/11, also learned important life lessons: “He taught me not how to get results, but how to do research. Not how to answer the research questions, but how to properly ask the questions in the first place. … What I learned mostly through Duncan’s mentorship was that the answers I was searching for could never come from anyone other than me. And that only if the questions were formulated properly could the answers ever be correct. … I remember his words to this day that ‘as long as you keep learning you will never get old.’ What a gift — Duncan actually taught me how to stay young.”
A. Duncan Chiquoine III died on May 5, 2016, at his home in Devens, Mass., at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, one daughter, four sons, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
