Donor Spotlight: Don Westlake '50
By Tony Scott
Don Westlake, '50, in October 2024. (Photo by Scott Walstrom/NIU Information Technology)
Don Westlake, ’50, gets a twinkle in his eye when he talks about his late wife, Helen (Gum) Westlake, ’49.
“She was a star,” he said. “And everybody knew she was a star.”
After her death, Don established the Helen Gum Westlake Memorial Scholarship for Early Childhood Education in her honor and to expand their support of their alma mater. This was in addition to the giving the couple had made previously over the years.
“I wound up with a doctorate never having paid tuition," he said. "So, once my wife and I were established - we had great memories of NIU - both of us decided we should be giving back.”
The pair first met as four-year-old children in Sunday school in the small rural town of Elburn, Illinois. Helen attended a country grade school, and Don went to school in town, so they didn’t really get to know each other until they both went to Elburn High School.
After graduating from high school, Don received state scholarships to go to the University of Illinois and NIU, but he ultimately chose to attend NIU for another important reason: Helen, who he had begun dating, was a Huskie.
The couple were married for 62 years before Helen died in 2012. They have one daughter, Dawn, who is an award-winning filmmaker.
When Don entered NIU in the fall of 1946, the university was still named Northern Illinois State Teachers College and was flooded with veterans returning from service after World War II because of the G.I. Bill.
In 1946, enrollment jumped to 901 men and 541 women – the first time that men outnumbered women at NIU. Of those numbers, 731 men and 11 women – more than 50 percent of the student body – were veterans.
There were no dorms for male students at the time; the first male dorm, Gilbert Hall, wouldn’t open until 1951. So, Don and other men would rent rooms at boarding houses off campus.
Tuition at NIU then was inexpensive. – Don was in awe as he recalled it cost $15 a quarter - the school year at the time was divided into quarters - when he entered the university as a freshman.
Following graduation from NIU, Don taught math and physical education at his old high school for a year. After a year, the principal asked him to also coach the basketball team, but Don wasn’t interested and began looking for other opportunities.
Don found an ad in the newspaper for Argonne National Laboratory, which was looking for a chemist. He applied, got the job, but was there for only a year when he was drafted into the Army. He spent the summer and fall of 1952 in boot camp.
“Having trained for infantry combat in Korea during the summer and fall of 1952, it was my education at NIU and experience at Argonne National Laboratory that qualified me to be selected, instead, to serve as an analytical chemist at the Army Chemical Center in Maryland,” he said. “It was this additional experience in the profession that encouraged me to further my education.”
Using the G.I. Bill to attend graduate school tuition-free, Don attended Iowa State University and earned a Ph.D. in metallurgy. After receiving her master’s degree at Iowa State, Helen taught for 50 years at the high school and college levels before her retirement.
Don worked at Argonne National Laboratory for 25 years as a researcher and authored, or co-authored, 120 papers on the absorption and diffusion of hydrogen in various metals and alloys, before retiring in 1984. After retirement, he edited textbooks written by Helen, and authored books of poetry and memoirs of his younger days in Elburn. Currently, he produces his own podcast called “Reflections From The Cloud,” where he tells stories about his years in Elburn and other memories.
Don and Helen Westlake. (Photo from Don Westlake)
Don's parents, Leslie and Florence Westlake, married young, and he remembers growing up during the Great Depression.
“There were times when Dad was out of work and it was very hard times,” he said.
His grandfather, Gilbert Westlake, bought a grocery store in town and made his father the manager, but that was just in time for the market crash and the store had to be sold. His grandfather later bought a hatchery, which his dad managed. The hatchery was later expanded to include the sales of farm equipment and animal feeds.
“That was the beginning of success for my Dad,” he said.
Neither of Don's two siblings went to college, but he knew from an early age that he wanted to go to NIU. He loved to play basketball and three of his uncles were Huskies, all of whom played basketball at NIU.
The youngest of the three, Benjamin “Benny” Westlake, ’35, was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in its first year, 1978, alongside the team he was on, the 1933-1934 Little 19 Conference Champions, coached by George “Chick” Evans.
Don also played some basketball at NIU, although he didn’t find success on the court like his Uncle Benny. He was on the B team his sophomore year, and during his junior year, he was the sixth man on the varsity roster, which meant he only played occasionally. When his senior year rolled around, the team had hired a new coach who wanted to see what the new, talented freshmen could do, and he did not play.
During a Hall of Fame induction ceremony on campus in October 2024, NIU head men's basketball coach Rashon Burno presented Don with a varsity letterman's jacket.
Don's grandfather also had an NIU connection. According to Westlake, he was hired, along with his team of horses, to help dig the foundation of what would be Altgeld Hall when it was being constructed in the 1890s.
In addition to receiving a state scholarship, Don received other support. He gave a humorous anecdote about winning a scholarship from a psychology professor.
Every student was required to attend a weekly assembly where announcements were made. Don dutifully attended every week, except for one week when he skipped and later found out he had been called on to accept a scholarship he had won from Professor Marion C. Hayes.
“So, I went to Doc Hayes’ office, and I walked in very sheepishly,” he said. “And he pulled out his billfold, took out $50, and handed it to me. That was my scholarship.”
Westlake still remembers some of his professors at NIU who made an impact, including a math professor, Eugene Hellmich
“He was an absolutely marvelous teacher,” he said. “He wasn’t personable at all; he was a taskmaster. But I liked that. I was that kind of person.”
Frederick Rolf, who taught analytical chemistry, was another “taskmaster” described by Don but was someone the students could depend on for advice.
“It was he from whom I sought advice when I was offered a teaching job after my junior year of college,” Don said of Rolf. “Of course, he didn’t tell me what I should do, but he helped me to clarify my values. I have never regretted my decision to return for my senior year in college, even though my final season of basketball was a huge disappointment.”
Don added, “It was my positive experience in Dr. Rolf’s course that made me confident when I applied for the job as analytical chemist at Argonne National Laboratory. From day one, I felt fully qualified for the job I did at this prestigious laboratory.”
The impact NIU had on Don's life and career was tremendous, and Don is grateful for the opportunities that NIU gave him with the help of scholarships. That’s why he and, during her lifetime, Helen, gave back to their alma mater.
“I just like to give somebody in need an opportunity,” he said. “I’m very grateful.”
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