Distinguished professor celebrates 60 years of work at UI: “She’s is in a class by herself”

Distinguished Professor Jean’ne M. Shreeve recently celebrated 60 years of continuous work at the University of Idaho. But she doesn’t plan to stop there. 

Shreeve was hired by renowned UI scientist and former Head of Physical Sciences Malcolm Renfrew in 1961. According to Shreeve, he was the world’s best boss. His vigorous encouragement and high standard of success consistently pushed Shreeve and others under his wing. 

“He opened so many doors,” Shreeve said. “Every day of his life until he stopped driving in 1955, he would come to my office and say, ‘what have you done since yesterday?’ Just constantly pushing. He didn’t just do it to me, he did it to everyone.” 

Shreeve’s career started at the university on a whim. Graduating with a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Shreeve applied for a one-semester temp job to fill the spot of a staffer on sabbatical leave. 

All things considered, “it turned into one incredibly long semester,” Shreeve said.  

Since then, Shreeve moved up the ranks quickly. After becoming a full professor, she was promoted to the Department of Chemistry Chair, which she worked as for 14 years. Following that, she worked as the vice president of research for 12 years. Nowadays, she just calls herself a “girl chemist.” 

She spends most of her time doing research, roughly 70 hours a week. She insisted the interview had to finish at 5 p.m. to allow her to go home and make supper, just to return to the office later in the evening. 

Her hard work paid off. Shreeve, along with her fellow researchers, has published 700 scientific papers in several journals throughout the years. A scientist publishing 100 papers in their career is an achievement of its own, according to UI Department of Chemistry Chair Ray von Wandruszka. 

“As far as research proficiency is concerned, nobody can touch her,” Wandruszka said. “When we think about how good a scientist or research is, we look at how many publications they have and nobody can touch hers, really.” 

Wandruszka has known Professor Shreeve for 33 years. Though they’ve never exactly worked with each other, their professional relationship is filled with nothing but respect.  

“She’s never stopped working,” Wandruszka said. “Jean’ne is Jean’ne. Jean’ne is in a class by herself. That’s the only phrase I can use to describe her because you can’t really say it in any other way.” 

Those who have been lucky enough to meet or work with Professor Shreeve only have great things to say about her character and professional career. Fortunately, if you haven’t met her, you still have time. She doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. 

“I’m going to keep working as long as possible,” Shreeve said. “I have such a good time and I hope my students and coworkers do also. We’ll keep working and having fun. That is my main thought. You do all of this because it’s fun. If it’s not fun, for heaven’s sake, don’t do it.” 

Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected] or @carterkolpitcke on Twitter