Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/240

first Benedictine from Lisle to enter that university, and the second Catholic priest to receive his Ph. D. degree there, the first one being Rev. Dr. John A. O’Brien.

In June, 1921, Father Cyprian was ordained in the parish church of Lebret, Saskatchewan, Canada. Within that same year he became an instructor in chemistry at the University of Illinois, and received the degree of M. A. in the summer of 1922. Toward the degree he wrote his first paper, Allyl Ethers of Various Carbohydrates”, which was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1923, and in April, 1924 was elected member of the Phi Lambda Upsilon, an honorary chemical fraternity.

After teaching Chemistry at St. Procopius College during 1924–25, Father Cyprian returned again in the fall of 1925 to the University of Illinois, where he began work on his final paper toward the doctorate, the thesis being, “Study of the Structure and Synthesis of Hydroxystearic Acids”. He did this work under Prof. Roger Adams, head of the Illinois University Chemical Department, and in 1926 was elected member of the Sigma XI, an honorary science fraternity. His thesis was also published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. After receiving his Ph. D. degree in June, 1926, Father Cyprian returned to St. Procopius College.

Though he is a very busy man as teacher of chemistry, the student in him is as live today as it was years ago when he was struggling against adverse circumstances. In his spare moments he either devotes himself to research work on purgative resins in the modernly equipped S. P. C. Chemical Laboratory, or keeps in a vigorous state of mind by playing hockey, chess, or golf, which games for years have been his hobbies.

The latest volume of “American Men of Science”, published by the Science Press, records that Rev. Dr. Tomecko is professor of chemistry and head of this department at St. Procopius College and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

On Oct. 28th a cablegram was sent to President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia by President Coolidge. The message read: His Excellency T. G. Masaryk, President of Czechoslovakia. Prague: The government and nation together with me send a most sincere greeting on the occasion of this anniversary of Czechoslovak Independence.—Calvin Coolidge.

A young Czechoslovak composer, Vladimir Polivka, now domiciled in Chicago, delivered during his recent visit to Prague a very interesting lecture on the development of musical life in America, and in addition presented examples of his own compositions which display very great talent.