In Loving Memory of Professor Emeritus Scott C. Mohr (08/30/1940 - ∞)
A celebration of his life will be held on November 21, 2026 at 1 in the afternoon at Wellesley Friends Meeting, Quaker House at 26 Benvenue St, Wellesley, MA 02482.
"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." - Albert Einstein upon the death of his closest friend, Michele Besso.
From the first hello to the last goodbye, Scott and I (Filiz) have been friends, colleagues, partners, best friends forever, life partners, and another’s other halves as wife and husband for the last 30 years. We made countless memories chatting about multitudes of topics whether politics, science, movies, theaters, or operas and traveling near and far. One of the best things about being with Scott was that one could never ever run out of topics to talk about. Boredom was erased from our dictionary and replaced with enthusiasm, creativity, joy, fun and curiosity. His inherent kindness was magical. His adaptability was captivating and enlightening. Our love was incalculable and only increased with the synergy of two passionate chemists. His extraordinary mind, keen advice, infinite support, and the countless cups of tea he brewed kept us going in the lab late into the night. Beyond any words that can be written here, both he and I were profoundly grateful when our daughter Lara A Mohr was born into our lives, and she has been the light and joy of our lives since then.
We should always remember that who you set out on a journey with is more important than the paths you travel. This is a beautiful reminder that the people beside us matter more than the roads we take. Life may lead us through unexpected turns, difficult paths, and uncertain destinations, but the right person makes every journey meaningful. In the end, it’s not just where we go, but who walks beside us that makes all the difference. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful that Scott, Lara, and I have been by each other’s side from the beginning and we continue to feel his positive energy in our lives and we always will.
Scott was named after his Scottish ancestors, being 20 % Scottish from his mom’s side. His Scottish connections have the highest percentage among the other 14 ancestral regions which are 2 confirmed by DNA testing with ancestry.com. Therefore, he enjoyed Robert Burns. He read the Selkirk Grace, a traditional Scots prayer of gratitude, before every dinner in Scottish accent which he was very good at imitating:
The Original Text "Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be Thankit!"
Modern English Translation "Some have meat and cannot eat, Some have none that want it; But we have meat and we can eat, So let the Lord be thanked."
One of the most beautiful things about Scott’s fatherhood was the time and love he devoted to Lara. He always made time to read her all kinds of stories including fairy tales, both especially during dinner and at bedtime even sometimes during car rides. Her favorite book, farmyard tales, worn out from being read many times during dinner time and car rides. He never missed a year of playing Santa, leaving a handwritten note, a chocolate chip cookie, and a glass of milk by the fireplace for her to discover as soon as she woke up on Christmas morning. Lara often asked the big questions in life, such as, “Where do we come from, and who were the first people on Earth?” Scott’s classic response was always, “that is a good and a very complicated question; many people have asked the same thing” and he can go on and explain things in detail. When Lara asked questions about human anatomy, Scott would reach for his giant anatomy textbooks—the real scientific ones—open them to the relevant pages, and begin explaining, even though she was only four years old. That was Scott: a loving father who nurtured Lara’s curiosity, took her questions seriously, and introduced her to the wonders of the world through stories, science, and his own unique way of making every moment a learning experience. They read many books, and actually at some point she wouldn’t eat her dinner unless he read her a book. They tried to find Waldo in series of Where is Waldo books; took so many walks in nature in all seasons; listened to Mozart’s Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro; made sand castles and covered his body with sand; painted Easter eggs; carved pumpkins, went trick or treating, and handed out candy in his professor halloween custom with a devil face mask; built snowmen while shoveling piles of New New England snow (once his periodic table coffee mug was lost under a pile of snow until spring), made snow angels, and threw snow balls; routinely played guess the animal at every dinner; played tic tac toe and hangman during every dinner at 3 restaurants, covering those paper table cloths with all kinds of writings and drawings; walking out at night to find constellations, drawing her Leo constellation on her bedroom wall very accurately; making face paintings on her face with his amazing drawing skills; teaching her how to bike; and every night after reading a story they would say this rhyme as a good night tradition:
Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite, and if they do, hit them with your shoe, ‘till they’re black and blue.
“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.” Albert Einstein.
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein.
Scott was an extraordinary human being—a true mensch, a loving husband and father, and a passionate scientist and educator. He dedicated 48 years of his life to Boston University, where he worked, taught, and shared his knowledge and passion for science with generations of students and colleagues. His remarkable intellect, generous spirit, inherent kindness, and dedication touched countless lives. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Scott will be remembered most dearly for the person he was: a man of integrity, warmth, beautiful smiles, beautiful bright glass blue eyes, compassion, sense of humor, inherent kindness and deep love for his family and friends.
"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." Albert Einstein
Scott always tried to be a good citizen, walking gently on earth. Whenever he saw a can during a walk, he would pick it up and add ”if there is one trash, easier for people to throw another one, but if there is none, people will hesitate to throw any, so pick it up”
“We have physicists, geometricians, chemists, astronomers, poets, musicians and painters in plenty, but we no longer have a citizen among us.” Jean Jacques Rousseau
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going” Ann Landers, Gem of the Day” 12/15/93 (Boston Globe)
Family Life:
Scott was born in Warren PA and the only child of Leon Elbert Mohr and Margaret Anna Mohr. As an only child growing up in Warren, Pennsylvania, he experienced small-town, traditional 4 culture within an extensive matrix of hard working, mutually supportive relatives who greatly valued learning and education. The depression prevented his father from attending college, but he learned on the job at the National Forge Company, took correspondence courses, and rose to the rank of tool-design engineer. His mother, an avid reader, worked as a librarian. It was not surprising that Scott was an avid reader in diverse topics and a very talented and creative handyman in fixing, repairing and building anything he came across.
Scott was the beloved husband of Filiz M. Aslan and a devoted father to their daughter, Lara A. Mohr who came into their life and continues to be the light and joy of their lives.
Scott is also survived by his three children, Michael, Sadhana, and Alexey Mohr, from his previous marriage. He is also survived by his granddaughter Anna Mohr; his cousins Lance Tucker,; Rosemary Flatt; Matthew and Garrett Streich; Dave, Ruth, Mark, Mary, and Beth Olson; Herbert, and William Johnson James, and Mike Swanson and Marilyn Johnson-Gran.
Emeritus Professor Scott C. Mohr passed away on October 5, 2026, leaving a profound and immeasurable void in the hearts and lives of all who knew and loved him but his legacy lives on in the family he cherished, the students he inspired, the colleagues he worked alongside, and the many lives he enriched throughout his extraordinary life.
Scott was a member of the Wellesley Friends Meeting. As a Quaker, he tried hard to follow George Fox’s advice: “Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people…” He strongly believed that “we should all work every day at the grass roots level to build a better world for our children and grandchildren hoping that it might be contagious.”
Professional Life:
Scott attended Warren High School, graduating as valedictorian and National Merit Scholar. He attended Williams College for his undergraduate degree, majoring in Chemistry, minoring in German, and participating in Phi Beta Kappa. He chose to major in Chemistry because he wanted to learn how living systems work. Directed by a fabulous mentor Dr. Hodge Markgraf, he completed a senior project in physical organic chemistry, this project being good preparation for studying enzymes. He spent an NSF summer fellowship in 1961 with Gordon Barrow at Case Institute of Technology doing infrared spectroscopy of H-bonds (also biochemically relevant). Both of these projects were published and the H-bond paper has been heavily cited. He obtained his B.A. summa cum laude (valedictorian) and spent the summer after graduating from Williams in Tubingen, Germany.
Scott entered graduate school at Harvard University and obtained his PhD in Dr. Paul Doty’s laboratory. He devised an energetically uphill method for the synthesis of short pieces of RNA as 5 part of efforts to decipher the genetic code. Those were thrilling times in biochemistry/molecular biology, and Dr. Mohr had first-hand contact with many of the pioneers of the field.
From Manfred Eigen, Nobel prize winner in Chemistry in 1967, Dr. Mohr learned that “fast kinetic” techniques could study biochemical processes on the sub-millisecond time scale. Dr. Mohr moved to Cornell to do postdoctoral research with Dr. Eigen’s collaborator Dr. Gordon Hammes. After a year and a half, Dr. Mohr joined the faculty of the Chemistry Department at Boston University in September 1969, where he taught and did research for 48 years. During these 48 years, Dr. Mohr was involved in many positions in research, teaching, and administrative and public services.
In the mid-1990s, Dr. Mohr switched research topics from biophysical chemistry to bioinformatics, collaborating extensively with Dr. Temple Smith, a founder of that field, giving Dr. Mohr a front-row seat for the genome era.
Dr Mohr held numerous professional positions: teaching fellow for organic chemistry and biochemistry at Harvard University (1963-1964), professor of natural science at Core Curriculum, Boston University (1994-2001), professor of Chemistry, Boston University (1969-2017), director of MS program in Bioinformatics Boston University (2000-2006), faculty member in residence in Shelton Hall (initiated recycling programs in dorms and throughout the university), Boston University (1999-2007), Consultant at Genetics Institute, Cambridge (1999-2001); Director of Graduate Studies, Bioinformatics Program, Boston University (2007-2017), Visiting fellow at Engineering Systems Division at MIT, Cambridge (2005-2008), Consultant, Registry of Standard Biological Parts, MIT, Cambridge (2008-2017), Administrative Director of Bioinformatics Program, Boston University (2012-2017).
Dr Mohr also taught various classes to various levels of students including graduate-level chemistry, biochemistry & bioinformatics students: Life Sciences Chemistry (allied-health students); Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry laboratory; Physical Chemistry and Macromolecules; Enzymology; Advanced biochemistry seminar; Chemistry for Environmental sciences, DNA binding proteins; Evolution of the universe and Life (Core Curriculum), Biodiversity (Core Curriculum); Bioinformatics Applications; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Information Transfer; Physical Biochemistry.
Bioinformatics Applications (BF527) was a brand new course co-developed by him and another colleague and still has been taught at Boston University.
Dr. Mohr has 76 publications in top peer-reviewed journals, demonstrating his deep, long-term commitment to research and significant impact on his field of study.
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” A. Einstein.
Dr. Mohr was a NSF fellow, Danforth Fellow, NIH Postdoctoral Fellow and Sigma Xi. He was also a member of American Chemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Dr. Mohr was also involved in numerous public services. He was the chairman for the Marine Science advisory board; MA executive Office of Environmental Affairs; a member of the Clean Water Action Task force on battery recycling raising awareness to environmental affairs committee of MA Legislature on the hazards of mercury contamination from discarded batteries; an activist raising awareness about climate change and gas leaks from aging, underground pipes which speed up climate change, kill trees, waste energy; Member of Board of Overseers, Moses Brown School (Providence RI); Member of the Science Education Committee, Wellesley Education Foundation; Adviser of the Boston University Vietnamese Student Association; Adviser of the Bioethics Society of Boston University; Adviser of Mirror Theater, Boston University; SynBioPolicy group at MIT; and Consultant to the Temporary Working Group on the convergence of Chemistry and Biology, Organization for the prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague, Netherlands.
Scott never felt like he accomplished enough and he never wanted to retire and was planning to work at least until his 90s. He said to me multiple times that if he is to come to this planet earth again, he would again be a chemist. As all chemists know: a chemist never dies, he just reaches equilibrium! He will be deeply missed and forever remembered with love.
Scott loved great quotations. Here are a few that align with our lifestyle…
The Seven Advices of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî 1. In generosity and helping others: Be like a river. 2. In compassion and grace: Be like the sun. 3. In concealing others' faults: Be like the night. 4. In anger and fury: Be like the dead. 5. In modesty and humility: Be like the soil. 6. In tolerance: Be like the ocean. 7. Authenticity: Either appear as you are, or be as you appear
from Albert Einstein… “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
“It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.”
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.”
“Never memorize something that you can look up.”
“A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.”
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.”
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think about music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”
“You never fail until you stop trying.”
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”