Memories
Co-workers—peers and subordinates—both early-on and late career, held fond recollections of Danny.
For example, Frank O’Donnell, retired research fellow at Sherwin-Williams and former ISCC president, explained, “The whole of the color community sought his advice and was never disappointed. I remember one time he had presented a paper on inter-instrument agreement. I told him I enjoyed the paper but could not use it, as the color-difference data was not in FMC-2. He raised an eyebrow and laughed. He knew I worked for Sherwin-Williams and he had worked there years previously and understood they used FMC-2 for internal work. A few days later he sent me the paper reworked in FMC-2. That was just how he was.”
Dr. Juanita M. Parris, global director, application and material science analytical, polymer and color, a close colleague at Sun Chemical, stated, “Danny’s contributions and excellence in color were numerous. He will be best remembered for his ability to explain complex ideas with patience, humor and kindness.”
Bob Lorenz, Sun’s VP, business development, Americas, offered a favorite quote from Danny and indicated, “It sums up his brilliance!” The quote: “We all see color in different ways—shade, strength, reflection. No one can say they are right or wrong on their perception of color because we are all very different human beings.”
Paul Centore, color scientist, Sun Chemical Corp, recalled, “Danny hired me in 2019. I worked under him until his retirement in the summer of 2021. Danny was a particularly valuable resource because my background was largely theoretical. For example, he served on many standards bodies and their committees: ISO, ASTM, CIE, ICC, and many more. After attending some meetings alongside him (where he was regularly greeted as an old friend, having known everybody for decades), the many compromises and inevitable approximations that go into standards, and the practical considerations that make changing them so difficult, made more sense. Danny’s views, sometimes sharply worded, on the wisdom—or otherwise—of the bodies’ previous decisions, were often more enlightening than the standards’ text, not only because he’d participated in a lot of the decision making, but also because he talked in terms of the motivations rather than the final results.
“As a supervisor at Sun Chemical, Danny’s demanding rigor served both him and his subordinates well,” Centore continued. “While at times he could be very critical (even a bit sarcastic), he was always receptive and gave a fair hearing to any ideas about how to solve the myriad practical problems that arose. With his long experience and encyclopedic knowledge, he usually suggested a helpful technique or identified relevant previous work. On a few occasions, I managed to come up with novel solutions that differed from established procedures. He took a few days to look carefully and thoroughly, and perhaps a bit skeptically, at the new offering. His verdict was usually curt approval. On rare occasions he came back with a compliment that was to the point and never effusive. Whatever the situation, Danny was available as a guide and mentor, and I remember him fondly, humming to himself as he worked in his office across the hall.”
Set Example
FTA Hall of Fame Member and chair of the FQC Executive Committee Jean Engelke had the pleasure of working with Danny over many years. She said, “His contributions to FQC, Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST), FORUM sessions and webinars set an example for all of us. Danny was always willing to share his immense knowledge and positively represent FTA on a global scale with respect to the ongoing development of standards directly affecting our industry. He had the unique ability to break down very complex technical concepts and present them to FTA members so that they are able to understand them and, oftentimes, do so with a high degree of humor and entertainment.”
“Danny really did change the printing world in working on aligning instrument standards, ink standards and lighting standards. He was also so humble and kind. He encouraged everyone to use proper terms and explained much over the years! I was very privileged to work on standards around the world with Danny! I will always cherish great times, in debate with other global delegates. Danny always persevered.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Dr. Sam Ingram, professor emeritus, Clemson University. “Dr. Danny Rich was a treasure of a colleague. I first met Danny at a TAGA conference, nearly 30 years ago. We typically shared color comments regarding ongoing projects at Clemson. Our interaction grew through national standards efforts via CGATS in efforts regarding print. Danny was generous with his expertise. Many of my students learned how to question their research, improve their strategy and benefit from a thorough review of contributors in the area of interest. Danny was a key collaborator in my recent effort on ISO TS 21328. His comments were always welcome and provided improvement. I must say Danny’s smile, his laugh, and his insight were always present in discussions and conversations with any and all. We all benefited from Dr. Rich.”
John Seymour, John the Math Guys and current member of the faculty at Clemson University, noted, “Danny was a mentor of mine. I cannot begin to list what he taught me. I recognize that he likely spent hours responding to emails of mine, and I am grateful for his generosity… In the 1970s, there was a commercial for a brokerage firm. The scene was a busy restaurant. One person is asking another about stocks. The other says ‘Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton…’ The room suddenly goes quiet. Everyone leans in closer to be able to hear what E.F. Hutton has to say. I was reminded of that commercial many times in standards committee meetings. It wasn’t E.F. Hutton who was talking, of course. It was Danny Rich. He would be sitting quietly, perhaps playing solitaire, and a color question would come up. Whatever argument or discussion was going on, Danny would be given deference by all in the room, and whatever he said would be the answer.”
Offering a more personal reminiscence, Seymour said, “One of my proudest moments was after I had presented a paper, probably at TAGA. Danny got up to respond during the Q&A period. I smiled, not betraying the fact that I was inwardly scared at how he might off-handedly dismiss everything I said. But he started out saying, ‘This is good work…’ Naturally, he found things to poke holes in, but I had snatched the pebble from the master’s hand!”
It was Seymour who urged FLEXO to reach out beyond traditional FTA channels to measure just how wide reaching an impact Danny had on the color community. In doing so, he revealed a bit of news. Danny made a huge impact in all color-related industries, particularly through his work with the ISCC, which he joined back in the 1970s, while a graduate student at The Rensselaer Color Measurement Laboratory, directed by Professor Fred W. Billmeyer Jr. The news: ISCC has created the Danny C. Rich Memorial Lecture to honor him in perpetuity. The first lecture will be a retrospective of his contributions to color science and technology, and it will occur at the 2023 ISCC Annual Meeting.
World Stage
One Past ISCC President, Paula J. Alessi, 1992-1993, commented on Danny’s life’s work. “Danny had a rare sense of humility that allowed him to answer questions in a way that would inform you while making you feel like his intellectual equal… As we both pursued active careers in color science, I always enjoyed meeting Danny at many national (ISCC) and international (CIE and AIC) color meetings. You could never miss his infectious laugh in the audience! …Danny’s very successful color career propelled him into management positions, but he always performed very important color research to advance the state of the art. Yet the role he embraced the most was the role of teacher. He was a natural at it and remained a perpetual mentor as colleagues continued to seek knowledge from him via phone, email, social media groups or casual fireside conversations during meetings. Danny was a man of deep faith and it showed as he interacted with all as a humble advisor and friend.”
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Kraushaar, Abt. Vorstufentechnik, Fogra, remembered, “Danny was a colleague, friend, and my guardian angel whom I could consult on all color science questions. He was always there to help and advise me. A quick search of an exemplary email in my saved correspondences begins as follows: ‘I am afraid that you have not looked far enough into the history of color technology to see the real reason for the development of hemispherical diffuse spectrophotometers.’ I am very grateful to have known him for over 20 years, mostly within ISO standardization matters.”
Yoshi Ohno, National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST fellow, past president CIE, offered, “Danny was certainly one of the key persons in CIE colorimetry. He was active over multiple divisions in CIE. In Division 2, he chaired TC 2-39 (Technical Committee) for geometric tolerances for color measurements that produced CIE 176-2006, a key publication in colorimetry. He also chaired TC 2-70 and was active in many other TCs related to optical properties of materials. He contributed much to Division 1, for CIE 15 (2004 and 2018) and other colorimetry publications. He was also active in CIE Division 8 and was also a liaison officer between CIE and ISO for reflectance and transmittance issues. I remember in 2015, Danny invited me to the ACA Coatings Tech conference in Louisville, KY and we had a great time. He was always prompt in responding to requests, was thorough in his responses and was a pleasure to work with. “
Irreplaceable Instincts
Hall of Fame Member Mark Samworth recounted, “Danny Rich was a true color scientist. He had a doctorate in color science and the knowledge to back up the degree. He kept people like Steve Smiley and me ‘honest.’ Whenever I had a detailed talk that involved color science, I would run it by Danny. We’d spend full eight-hour days reviewing the details of my one-hour ‘talks.’ In our relationship, Danny was teacher and I was student. His knowledge of the science behind ISO Color Standards was second to none. Danny was simply an irreplaceable person in our industry and a nice person to be around.”
Finally, Steve Smiley, SmileyColor & Associates, and fellow color science/standards development expert, added, “Danny really did change the printing world in working on aligning instrument standards, ink standards and lighting standards. He was also so humble and kind. He encouraged everyone to use proper terms and explained much over the years! I was very privileged to work on standards around the world with Danny! I will always cherish great times, in debate with other global delegates. Danny always persevered.”