USD Magazine, Summer 1999

Chemistry Habit

The search for a leukemia cure and spiritual peace is one nun's legacy W hen Sister Patricia Shaffer hears the "thud, tap, thud, thud," it can mean only one thing: dance recital. Not good, when your office is directly under the wooden stage of Shiley Theatre. Orchestra recital, well, that's a different story. "The symphony is so beautiful to hear," says Sister Shaffer from behind her office desk, which occupies the former trunk storage room of USD's predecessor, the San Diego College for Women. "Being under the stage, music is pretty much a part of our life here in the chemistry department." You probably wouldn't think of chemists calculating to the strains of Beethoven, but then again, you probably wouldn't think of a nun in full habit firing up Bunsen burners. And you likely wouldn't believe a university professor at age 70 would be a techno-wizard, quizzing her students with palm-held comput– ers, snapping their photos with a digital camera for a comput– erized seating chart and using the latest high-profile crime cases to explain the complexities of DNA. "I don't think the word 'can't' is in her vocabulary," says Sharon Joan Simpson '96, who learned about DNA from Sister Shaffer's general chemistry class, and about compassion from her work with USD's Founders Club, a service organization that ties USD alumni to the Association of the Sacred Heart. "She's a great role model, so giving," Simpson says. "No matter how much you take on, she's always willing to take on more." Although she's retiring this summer after 40 years of teaching at USD, Sister Shaffer is still taking on more. Her research into cloning a gene that would provide another source of asparaginase, the treatment for childhood leukemia, isn't complete. The work that possessed her the past 10 years, and which helped dozens of student chemists learn research tech– niques, will continue, even if means borrowing lab time or handing off her work to other scientists. She also will assist in fund-raising efforts for the proposed USD Center for Science Education and Outreach, creating a database of chemistry alumni and working with local bio-tech companies to create internship programs and joint-research projects. And there's a few other things to do. "I'm an avid cyclist and I haven't been able to do much of that lately. I'd love to get back on my bicycle," she says, her eyes brightening. "And I'll have more time for prayer. When you're under the pressure of working every day, you have little time to reflect." When she began teaching college in 1959, women chemists were rare. Even rarer were chemists in floor-length habits, the required dress at the time for the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

"Here was this nun with a long habit, to be called mother, and working in a research lab," Sister Shaffer says of her doc– toral work in the late 1960s with Ted Abbott at San Diego State University. "He nearly flipped. Everyone was bowing and scraping. He sat me down and said, 'Be just like everyone else.' " She took that advice to heart, serving as a teacher, mentor, spiritual adviser and friend to hundreds of students. Some she counseled on chemistry. Others the religious life. "A few ask me about the sisterhood each year," she says. "Now, there are so many more choices for women than when I began.'' Sister Shaffer first considered a religious vocation while in high school in her native Los Angeles, and was nudged into attending the San Francisco College for Women by her mother. At a retreat, she considered joining the Religious of the Sacred Heart, but first had to receive a clean bill of health. During the examination, she was diagnosed with Lupus. She decided to make a novena to St. Philippine Duchesne. A short time later, a doctor told her the Lupus had disappeared. "Much later a doctor told me it was probably a poor diag– nosis, but I thought it was a sign where I should go, Religious of the Sacred Heart," she says. She taught for five years at the Sacred Heart Academy in Menlo Park, Calif., before joining the faculty at the San Diego College for Women. She went on to earn her doctorate in chem– istry, oversee research projects, work with Pro-

Upper left: Sisler Shaffer circa 1960s Above: Sisler Shaffer reviews lab work with students, 1990s Left: Sisler Shaffer today

ject SEED - which put area high school students in USD labs with her and her students - and advise the Founders Club. She counts among her former students physicians, scientists, researchers and missionaries. "At my retirement party ... I really reflected on the fact that teaching, for me, develops your heart," Sister Shaffer says, "and I think that's a good thing.''

- Susan Herold

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