Dr. Frank Gilmore

Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford William Franklin “Frank” Gilmore died on February 14, 2018, at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, with his adoring wife, Ann, daughter Kristin, and son Paul by his side. Visitation will be held Saturday, February 24, 2018, at Coleman Funeral Home from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. A Celebration of Life will follow at 11:00 a.m. at Coleman Funeral Home on Saturday, February 24, 2018. Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford is in charge of arrangements. Frank was born in Bailey, MS, on March 26, 1935, the fourth of five children of James Edwards and Willie Mae (Fontaine) Gilmore. He graduated from West End High School in Birmingham, AL, and continued his education at Virginia Military Institute, where he graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1957. After earning a PhD in organic chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961, he served in the US Army, rising to the rank of captain. While posted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, he met his beloved wife, Ann Louise Gauthier, whom he married on June 15, 1963, in Denver, Colorado. After a postdoc at Florida State University, he worked at Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, before coming to The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 1967. From 1967 to 1993, he was a faculty member, serving as chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry twice and being honored as “Teacher of the Year.” After retiring from Ole Miss, Frank became the Vice President of Academic Affairs at West Virginia Tech in Montgomery, WV. In 1998, Frank joined Montana Tech in Butte, MT, as the tenth Chancellor, a role in which he served until 2011. Under his leadership, Montana Tech’s enrollment and endowment grew significantly, while he maintained budget surpluses and oversaw the construction of the Natural Resources Building. In 2012, the Ann and Frank Gilmore University Relations Center was dedicated in honor of their service and commitment to Montana Tech. That same year, he returned to his love of mentoring and teaching college students by becoming the President of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in northern Virginia, from which he retired in December 2015. Dr. Gilmore had an extensive academic and research career in both the private and public sectors. His original and innovative research in developing and demonstrating peptidomimetics, the first synthesis of optically active amino phosphonic acids, and the first synthesis and biological evaluation of peptides containing amino phosphonic acids proved to be important in drug design and development. Frank’s academic and research accomplishments led to his serving on the board of NABP (National Associations of Boards of Pharmacy) for over three decades, as president of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, from 2001 to 2004, and as a reviewer for the Goldwater Fellowships for over two decades. He was known as a dedicated and caring mentor and colleague who was always willing to lend support in any way he could. In his private life, Frank enjoyed working on the tree farm he and Ann owned outside of Oxford, where he built a sawmill as well as numerous barns and sheds, harvested pulpwood and firewood, and raised vegetables. He also took great pleasure in helping his friends and family with home improvement and repair projects. In retirement, Frank and Ann split their time between Oxford, MS, and Wise River, MT, where he was building a mountain home. Frank was a devoted and giving husband, father, and friend who will truly be missed by the many whose lives he deeply impacted. He is survived by his wife Ann and children Kristin Newman of Collierville, TN, and Paul Gilmore (Reid Cottingham) of Princeton, NJ, his sister Bettie Jean (Bob) Withers of Corinth, GA, his sisters-in-law Karen (Dennis) Kennedy, Connie Gauthier and Joyce Young of Denver, CO, his three grandchildren, Charlotte and Rowan Gilmore and Jax Newman as well as his special great-nephew, Andrew (Yim) Tackett and his extended family. Donations and memorials may be made to The Gilmore Family Scholarship at Montana Tech (Montana Tech Foundation, 1300 West Parks Street, Butte, MT 59701) or a charity of your choice. A memorial service will be held later this Spring in Butte, MT. Online condolences may be left on his Tribute Wall at www.colemanfuneralhome.com.

Dr. Frank Gilmore

March 26, 1935 - February 14, 2018

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