Dr. James L. Marshall, son of Madison Lincoln Marshall and Irene VanEman Marshall, native of Denton, TX, passed away peacefully on March 28, 2025 at age 84. He earned his B.S. in chemistry at Indiana University in 1962, and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Ohio State University in 1966. The following year Dr. Marshall joined the Department of Chemistry at the North Texas State University (now University of North Texas, UNT). At UNT he was involved in conformational analysis utilizing carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance coupling constants. During the early 1980s Dr. Marshall spent six years at Motorola, Inc., Ft. Worth, where he developed the laboratory facilities for the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program. In 1987 he returned to the University of North Texas where he conducted materials research; and in the 1990s he initiated research in chemical history. His research at UNT has resulted in over 250 publications, including a reference book on NMR, and several books on the history of chemistry and laboratory chemistry. At UNT Dr. Marshall served as Director of Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, Director of the Center for Materials Characterization, and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry.  He also taught countless students to love chemistry. Always the jokester, he would ingest maple syrup disguised in a motor oil bottle or drink liquid nitrogen, always to catch his students' attention and show them learning is fun. Students loved Jim in class, and he also was chosen as an Honor Professor by The UNT Student Association for 1988-1989 school year, a "Top Prof" by Mortar Board in 1989, and an Outstanding Faculty Member by Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1995. 

 Dr. Marshall has served as Chairman of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Section of the American Chemical Society, and during the period 1995-2003 was Managing Editor of The Southwest Retort, an ACS publication of the Southwest Regional. He has served as an ACS national tour speaker for many years. He married his late wife Virginia R. (Jenny) Marshall in 1998, he and his wife developed an extensive work, "Rediscovery of the Elements," and in 2010 completed their work and prepared a DVD describing their travels and the results of their research. Their research received international acclaim, for example being reviewed in Nature (2005, 436(25) 1082-1083) and their work also won "Best Paper Award" in the Bulletin for the History of Chemistry in 2004. Dr. Marshall has created the only collection of elements in the world that contains not only all the natural elements, but authentic samples of minerals from the original sites that he and Jenny collected over the 16 years of their collaboration, viewable with explanations through his You Tube site  https://www.youtube.com/@rediscoveryoftheelements5753  . Service to the ACS and chemical research was recognized by his inclusion in the 2011 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society. He retired from UNT in 2017 as an Emeritus Professor and continued his extensive writings on the history of the chemical elements. In August of 2024, he, along with his late wife Jenny, received the American Chemical Society Lambert Award for his outstanding achievements in the history of chemistry for their work on the Rediscovery of the Elements. 

 The project on the Rediscovery of the Elements resulted in a massive archive produced by all the modalities of the modern historian. The original work was published as a series of articles in  The Hexagon  , the official journal of the professional chemistry fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma. The first one was: "Rediscovery of the Elements: Tellurium and Faţa Băii (Fascebanya), Romania," James L. Marshall and Virginia R. Marshall,  The Hexagon of Alpha Chi Sigma  , 91, No. 3, Fall, 43-45, (2000).  The last one was: "Rediscovery of the Elements. The Alchemical Journey. Part 3." J. L. Marshall and V. R. Marshall,  The Hexagon of Alpha Chi Sigma  ," 112(1), 10-13, (2021).  More than 50 articles in all were published.  In order to make the full corpus more available, the Marshalls produced a DVD containing photographs and maps of the discovery sites. The initial version was published in 2010; it has since been updated and is now available as a third edition (2021) that can be accessed on the internet at  https://sites.chemistry.unt.edu/~jimm/REDISCOVERY%206-10-2021/  

 As Jim often said, "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."―  Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist  ; and the universe conspired to allow him and Jenny to achieve the Rediscovery dream. 

 Among his many hobbies included bird studying, flying, and hiking, and he was an avid naturalist.  James was an active flight instructor (private; instrument; twin) for decades, and among his students are included American Airline pilots. James has hiked the Grand Canyon several times, including all the way twice - once with his son Cristopher. In his high school and college years, he was active in music – he was First Chair tuba in the state of Alabama, 1957 and 1958; and during the years 1959-1960 he was the tuba player in the Charlotte Symphony in North Carolina. 

 Dr. Marshall was preceded in death by his fourth wife, Jenny Marshall, and two siblings, Drs. William and Ernest Marshall.  He is survived by his sister Dr. Madilyn Fletcher and his two heartbroken children, Cristopher Marshal. M.Ed. and Dr. Pamela A. Marshall (to whom he instilled his love of science), their spouses (Cindy Marshall and David Lelsz) and three amazing grandchildren, Griffin Marshall, Garyn Marshall, and Stephanie Lelsz. 

 In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alpha Chi Sigma Educational Foundation (  https://foundation.alphachisigma.org  ), Alpha Chi Sigma (  https://www.alphachisigma.org/donate  ), the History Division of the American Chemical Society (  https://acshist.scs.illinois.edu/index.php  ), or your favorite scientific support society or scientific charity. 

 Please join us for a Celebration of Life on May 19th, at 11am at Bill DeBerry Funeral Directors in Denton, TX, 2025 W University Dr., Denton, TX 76201.