In 1979 Dr. Sackett was recruited from Texas A & M to be Department Chair in Marine Science, a position he held until December of 1982. He presided over some of the most rapid and significant growth of the marine science program. Bill remained on the faculty as a Distinguished Research Professor until his retirement in 1997. Bill was a pioneer in stable isotope geochemistry and an active member of our chemical oceanography group. He was also an excellent mentor and in 1984 one of his Ph.D. students, Roger Burke, was awarded the first Lake Fellowship.