Pill-Soon Song was born in Osaka, Japan. When he was 13 his family moved back to Korea. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in science because he enrolled at Seoul National University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s in agricultural chemistry with an emphasis on biochemistry. Next, he earned a doctorate from the University of California at Davis and did postdoctoral work at Iowa State University in Ames with David Metzler. In 1987, after about 21 years as a faculty member in the chemistry department at Texas Tech University, he joined UNL chemistry as chair and full professor. He is remembered fondly because he led us through a decade of faculty hiring, including myself in 1990. There are two interesting facts I’d like to mention before we get started. One is that he was a leader on many levels in the international photo ...