Robert Floyd Curl, Jr. is an emeritus professor of chemistry at Rice University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of the nanomaterial buckminsterfullerene, along with Richard Smalley also of Rice University, and Harold Kroto of the University of Sussex. Dr. Curl was part of the class taught by Eddie Wold in the Spring of 2014. He plays regularly with the club and is likely the best player in the club (though George may give him a run for his money).
Funnily enough, I get more pleasure from teaching Bridge and making friends in the process as opposed to the game itself. Don’t get me wrong, Bridge is an awesomely fun game, but a big part of the entertainment value comes from playing with people you know. I started playing about two years ago and it’s really just been a causal form of recreation for me and my friends during down time. Bridge is one of those games you could spend an entire weekend playing, or just in the ten minutes you have in between classes.
Although there are professional Bridge players that go to serious competitions, casual Bridge is very fun as well. The basics aren’t hard to learn and everyone has the flexibility to take the game as far as they want.
Personally, I’ve never had the chance to play competitive Bridge so I look forward to forming a strong dedicated team with George and the rest of the club this year. If anyone reading this has a similar interest, I’d be happy to find a place for you on the team. As part of our first year agenda, we’re likely to sponsor our first team in paying for competition fees.