Bill Grant ’63: A Ray of Light
In the summer of 1958, while working as a busboy and room cleaner at the Audubon Society's Nature Camp at Sugar Bowl Resort near Lake Tahoe, I had an encounter that would alter the course of my life. Two women—cooks for Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Occidental—shared tales of the College's Presbyterian roots, which resonated with my upbringing. Intrigued, I applied to Oxy and secured a scholarship, begin-ning my journey in 1959.
College is a time of exploration, and my path was no different. Initially drawn to physics, I soon found myself captivated by economics and world affairs. Unfortunately, economics in those days was not quantitative enough for my brain, and world affairs required good people skills. Despite the exciting courses, I realized my passion lay elsewhere and returned to physics during my junior year at Oxy.
In 1961, a ruby laser demonstration at Oxy by a Stanford laser scientist and future Physics Nobel Prize Laureate Arthur L. Schawlow reaffirmed my love for physics. He inflated a blue Mickey Mouse balloon inside a transparent balloon and fired the laser, mounted in a plastic gun, at the balloons. Since blue objects absorb red light, he expected the Mickey Mouse balloon to pop. It did not. Unfazed, he put a pencil in the gun and fired it, popping both balloons. “Secondary strike capability,” he announced. His unconventional approach left a lasting impression, guiding me back to my scientific roots.
Occidental’s then-limited availability of physics courses prompted a transfer to UC Berkeley, where I completed my undergraduate and graduate studies in physics. My years at Berkeley (1962 to 1970) were quite exciting, resulting in my spending too much time photographing events such as the Free Speech Movement and People’s Park.
Following my time at Berkeley, I embarked on a postdoc research position at Freie Universität Berlin, despite having no prior knowledge of German. Drawing on my experience with Russian, I adapted quickly. Upon returning to the United States, I delved into laser remote sensing, with positions at SRI International, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and NASA Langley Research Center. The NASA position was the most interesting. It involved using a laser system to make vertical profile measurements of ozone and aerosols on airborne missions in such exotic places as the Arctic in winter, Brazil, and many of the Pacific islands.
It was during my time in Virginia that I discovered my life’s calling. I undertook a project for the Sierra Club to determine the effect of air pollution on the eastern forests. A forestry professor from Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, taught me how to do ecological studies. In such studies, populations are defined geographically and risk factors are compared with health outcomes for the populations. We showed that acid rain adversely affected white oaks while ozone adversely affected red oaks.
On a NASA mission to New Zealand in 1996, I read that Japanese-American men in Hawai‘i had 2.5 times the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as native Japanese. I immediately thought that since aluminum was common in Alzheimer’s disease and forest decline, that the American diet was the explanation for the finding. My research led to my studies into Alzheimer’s disease prevalence and the correlation with dietary macro factors. This study was also published in 2002.
In 2004, I retired from NASA and moved to San Francisco to extend my work on how solar UVB, vitamin D, and diet can reduce the risk of chronic and infectious diseases, forming the nonprofit organization Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center (sunarc.org). I have published more than 300 papers on vitamin D, 30 on diet, and 20 on COVID-19.
Reflecting on my journey, I am indebted to Oxy for its investment in me and seek to repay it through a legacy gift, aspiring to leave the world a better place. The world needs people in all walks of life who put the interests of others in their actions and decisions.
William B. Grant ’63 continues his work as director of the Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center (SUNARC) in San Francisco. His legacy gift to Occidental will support future generations of science majors.
"Members of the Oxy community who support Oxy through their estate plans have provided us with an incredibly distinctive gift-an infinite investment in the College. We are grateful to these generous donors whose forethought will allow Oxy to deliver our exceptional liberal arts education to generation upon generation of talented students."
- President Harry J. Elam, Jr.
"Oxy showed me that the path to one's goals need not be linear or conventional. I learned how to think, to write, to create; to trust my instincts and pursue my interests with passion and a standard of excellence. Not a day has passed that I have not been rewarded in some way by my Occidental education."
Michael and his wife Pamela recently documented an estate gift to support the Obama Scholars Program and the EdgertonOccidental Merit Scholarship.