1920s
1929
Ruth Rosenberg Ehrlich Ed’29, Philadelphia, an English and Latin teacher at Elkins Park Junior High School from 1955 to 1972; Feb. 27. According to her family, “one of her best and favorite pupils” was the late writer Laurie Colwin. Her son is Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich C’53, whose daughter is Dr. Lisa M. Ehrlich Gr’84.
1930s
1932
David Berger C’32 L’36, Philadelphia, a pioneer of class-action lawsuits; Feb. 22. At Penn during the Depression, he earned his way through college with a job at the Jewish Student Center that paid him a dollar a day and an apple, according to his son Daniel Berger CGS’98. David graduated first in his law-school class and was a member of the law review. He then served as special assistant to the law-school dean and continued a lifelong connection to Penn. He was an overseer of the Law School and an associate trustee of the University. He worked as a law clerk for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and later for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit before joining the U.S. Navy during World War II. Serving on aircraft carriers in the South Pacific, he survived the sinking of the Hornet in 1942 and was later chosen by Adm. William F. Halsey to serve on his personal staff. He was ultimately promoted to captain and earned a Silver Star. While in New Guinea during the war he met and became friends with Capt. Richardson Dilworth; appointed by him as Philadelphia city solicitor in 1956, David Berger was instrumental in establishing public institutions such as SEPTA and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. He was appointed to a committee to develop high-speed rail lines in the Northeast Corridor, which later became Amtrak. After returning to private practice in 1963, he and fellow trial lawyer Harold E. Kohn C’34 L’37 began developing class-action suits under federal antitrust laws. His successful cases included the Three Mile Island nuclear-power accident, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the Drexel Burnham Lambert junk-bond scandal. His firm won a $2 billion settlement from the government on behalf of the bankrupt Penn Central Railroad and thousands of shareholders. “The world didn’t realize the potential of class-action litigation until Dave Berger came along,” recalled prominent Philadelphia attorney and colleague, Richard A. Sprague L’53. In 1970, with H. Laddie Montague Jr. C’60, he formed a 30-partner law firm, Berger & Montague. Called one of Philadelphia’s “premier antitrust lawyers” by former Temple president Peter J. Liacouras L’56, he was remembered by Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell C’65 Hon’00 as “a giant in his field” who had “a deep and abiding passion about making Philadelphia better.” Also active in Democratic Party politics, he lost the 1969 race for district attorney against Arlen Specter C’51. Another of Dave Berger’s sons is Dr. Jonathan Berger GCP’72 Gr’85, whose wife is Kathleen L. Wallace GRP’79. David’s brothers are Hon. Harold Berger EE’48 L’51, Dr. Joseph Berger EE’50 GEE’61 GrE’78, and Norman M. Berger W’53 L’56. Harold’s son is Jonathan D. Berger W’80.
1933
Edwin H. Keller ChE’33, Media, Pa., Jan. 21. His son is Edwin Robert Keller II C’62 EE’62 GEE’68.
Olive Nicholas Thomas G’33, Doylestown, Pa., a retired teacher and educator; Feb. 11. She taught in Philadelphia elementary schools for 10 years before raising her children, and from 1958 to 1971 she she worked in the pupil personnel and counseling department.
1934
Hon. John M. Kurtz Jr. W’34, Lancaster, Pa., Dec. 21.
Albert J. Wallace Jr. W’34, Marblehead, Mass., Jan. 8.
Dr. Adolph Weinstock C’34, Highland Park, Ill., a physician who had maintained a practice in Rolling Prairie, Ind., from 1946 to 1992; Dec. 1. He had served as president of the medical staff of LaPorte Hospital. He had served one year in the Civilian Conservation Corps, followed by six years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
Silas B. White WEv’34, Bensalem, Pa., owner and operator of hisfamily business, White’s Food Market in Somerton, until his retirement in the 1970s; Feb. 8. He was a director of the Frankford Grocery Co. He joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1935 and worked at Cramps Shipyard during World War II.
1935
Myer Feldman W’35 L’38, Potomac, Md., an aide to President John F. Kennedy and special counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson; March 1. He had taught at the University until joining the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942. Known as “Mike,” he worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission after World War II, rising to executive assistant to the chair. He went on to work for the Senate Banking and Currency Committee, then as a legislative assistant to Sen. John F. Kennedy, with the help of Theodore C. Sorensen, then Kennedy’s aide. As deputy special counsel, during the 1960 presidential race he led a group to find negative information about the Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon, as documented in Sorensen’s 1965 book, Kennedy. Mike did research for speechwriting and helped Kennedy prepare for the televised debate against Nixon. In the administration, he served as a behind-the-scenes liaison to Israel, meeting with David Ben-Gurion and Gilda Meir. He was also a principal adviser on domestic policy and the channel for business requests concerning tariffs and air routes. The New York Post later called him “the White House’s anonymous man.” After Kennedy’s assassination, he stayed on in the White House, assisting in Lyndon Johnson’s campaign and advising him following the election; Johnson promoted him to special counsel. After leaving government service in 1965, he started a Washington law firm that grew to 100 attorneys. He also made millions buying and selling radio stations. And he helped finance the District’s condominium boom in the 1970s. He participated in many more political campaigns, chiefly working in the background. He was a book editor for the Saturday Review of Literature and helped produce six plays. His son is James A. Feldman C’71.
Col. Eugene P. Sites WEv’35, Cherry Hill, N.J., Jan. 3.
1936 | Joseph D. Blumenthal W’36, Orange, Calif., Dec. 1.
Dr. Bernard S. Feinberg D’36, Richardson, Tex., Dec. 22.
Betty Haig Gisburne Ed’36, Lansdale, Pa., March 21.
1937
Dr. Joseph S. Keiper WG’37, Mt. Holly, N.J., professor emeritus of economics at New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, where he had taught for 43 years; Jan. 13.
Ida Rosa Pugliese G’37 L’44, Wayne, Pa., a retired attorney; March 30. As a librarian at Penn’s Biddle Law Library, she “got tired of looking at the outside of law books and decided to look inside,” recalled Dr. Maria Pugliese Hieble M’74, a daughter. From 1944 to 1947 she worked for the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath. After raising her children, she had maintained a law practice in the city until the 1980s. In 1963 she and her husband, the late Peter F. Pugliese L’41, established the American Institute for Italian Culture, which presented free lectures for 20 years. They were honored by the Italian government for their work. Another of her daughters is Elisa M. Pugliese L’78.
1938
John T. Gilbride C’38, Stamford, Conn., former president (1958-75), and then chair and chief executive of the Todd Shipyards in Brooklyn, N.Y. (now Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp. of Seattle), once the largest independent shipbuilding company in the country; March 17. He started work there, at age 14, as a pipefitter’s helper. He retired in 1986.
Charles H. Grosjean ME’38, White Plains, N.Y., June 2006.
John L. Salisbury W’38, Canandaigua, N.Y., June 26, 2006.
Dr. Henry M. Suckle C’38 M’41, Woodside, Calif., a retired neurological surgeon who had served as chief of staff at San Jose Hospital; Feb. 19. At Penn he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha honorary society.
1939
John A. Eichman III W’39 L’42, Philadelphia, July 10, 2006.
Emerson W. Glancy EE’39, Summit, N.J., May 7, 2006.
J. Henry Hitz GEd’39, Lancaster, Pa., a high-school teacher for 35 years, until his retirement in 1970; March 15. He was a member of the Tau chapter of Phi Delta Kappa and served as the executive secretary for many years. “His dry humor enlivened many of our meetings,” recalled Dr. Theodore E. F. Guth GrEd’73, the chapter’s former president. Henry began as a mathematics teacher, and then, for 27 years, taught in the vocational-technical department of Lansdale High School. For the past five years he had been the oldest living alumnus of the Graduate School of Education.
Nathan Marder W’39, Rydal, Pa., March 28.
Dr. Samuel H. Moser V’39, Myerstown, Pa., a foreign-programs veterinary staff officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, until his retirement in 1984; Jan. 11.
Merwin Rosenberg W’39, Tallahassee, Fla., Feb. 13.
Karl G. Seelaus W’39, Rye, N.Y., a former president of CIT Commercial Finance Corp. in New York; Jan. 28. He had taught at the Wharton School.
Harold F. Stolle WG’39, Litchfield, Ill., Aug. 6, 2006.
1940s
1940
Ann Schrenk Boakes CW’40, Woodbury, N.J., March 18.
Dr. Robert G. Haldeman ChE’40, Little Rock, Ark., a retired chemist who was a pioneer of fuel-cell technology; March 4. A manager in the central research division of American Cyanamid Co. in Stamford, Conn., from 1953 to 1972, he handled the development of early fuel cells and high-energy solid propellants for rockets.
Margaret Cramer Heilig SW’40, Drexel Hill, Pa., a retired nurse for Delaware County Community College; March.
Dr. William Weiss C’40 M’43 GM’46, Philadelphia, an epidemiologist who was director of pulmonary disease at the old Philadelphia General Hospital, from 1950 to 1974; March 8. During the 1960s he researched so-called safer cigarettes, including filtered and lettuce-leaf varieties. In 1973 a landmark article he co-wrote was published in the New England Journal of Medicine presenting evidence that workers exposed to chloromethyl were at risk for developing small-cell cancer, leading to restriction of the chemical. He had lectured at Penn’s School of Nursing. Dr. Weiss was awarded the Strittmatter Gold Medal from the Philadelphia County Medical Society in 1991. He served in the U.S. Air Force, 1953-55.
William F. Wenzel L’40, West Chester, Pa., Dec. 15.
1941
William R. Bishop Jr. G’41, Wyomissing, Pa., Jan. 1. He had taught history at the University in the 1940s.
Alice Francisco El Koury G’41, San Juan, P.R., a retired professor of microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico; March 2. She had helped found the local chapter of the American Society of Microbiology and the Puerto Rico Medical Technology Association. Her son is Jorge M. El Koury G’75.
Vincent J. La Brasca L’41, Springfield, Pa., a partner with the law firm of Fronefield & de Furia, where he had worked for 40 years until his retirement in 1987; Jan. 9. During World War II he served in the Second Armored Division in North Africa and Europe.
Michael J. Ranalli EE’41, Philadelphia, a retired vice president of RCA International, where he had worked for nearly 30 years; March 25. During World War II he worked on radar technology.
Francis J. Schneider Jr. L’41, Glenolden, Pa., July 27, 2006.
1942
Frank N. Bowden Ar’42, Smithfield, N.C., May 31, 2006.
1943
A. Richard Fitch C’43, Philadelphia, a retired chemist who had developed paints and stains for historic buildings, including Independence Hall and Gunston Hall in Virginia; March 1. While at Penn he helped restore Aspendale, a Georgian mansion in Delaware. He had worked for several firms, including Turco Paint & Varnish Co. in Philadelphia and Bartley Finishes in Denton, Md.
Esther G. Freeman Ed’43 GEd’44, Maple Glen, Pa., a retired teacher; Jan. 10. She had taught English and history in Philadelphia public schools and in several synagogue schools, including Temple Beth Ami. Later she taught at Lincoln Prep School and the Philadelphia School of Office Training, until retiring in the 1980s.
Robert W. McConnell Jr. L’43, Gladwyne, Pa., regional legal counsel for Sears, Roebuck & Co., from 1961 until retiring in 1987; Feb. 17. He had served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
1945 | Katharine Burch Brey CCC’45, Philadelphia, March 6. During World War II she worked as a nurse’s aide at Graduate Hospital. A social worker for the city’s Department of Public Welfare, she later, during the 1960s and 1970s, taught in the federally funded Get Set program for preschoolers. Her husband is Robert N. Brey Jr. ChE’43 and one of her daughters is M. Cynthia Brey C’76 GAr’78.
W. Scott Calderwood W’45, Warren, Pa., a retired partner in the law firm of Mervine & Calderwood; Feb. 10. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater.
Jan Townend Deininger FA’45, Atlanta, an artist and photographer; Feb. 22. At Penn she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, the women’s fraternity. Her husband, Donald L. Deininger W’42 WG’43, died in 2005.
Dr. William C. Hudson Jr. D’45, Clinton, Conn., a prosthodontist at Rockefeller Center until his retirement in 1998; Feb. 21. He was a former president of the New York Academy of Dentistry, the Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics, Federation of Prosthodontic Organizations, and the First District Dental Society. He had served in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps. One of his sons is Dr. James D. Hudson D’82.
Dr. Kenneth D. Matthews Jr. Ed’45 GEd’47 Gr’61, Newtown Square, Pa., an emeritus professor of history at Arcadia University and, earlier, director of education at Penn’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for 20 years; March 30. At the Museum he developed programs for children, hosted a weekly radio show, Accent on Antiquity, and was a panelist on the television program, What in the World. Joining the Arcadia faculty in 1973, he taught until his retirement in 1988. He specialized in ancient Rome.
1946
Dr. Joseph L. Grant M’46 GM’50, Norwich, Vt., chief of medicine at the VA hospital in White River Junction from 1955 until his retirement in 1983; Feb. 16. He had served as chief of pathology for the European theater with the U.S. Army occupation in Germany.
Benjamin Franklin Kahn W’46, Chevy Chase, Md., March 8. One of his sons is William H. Kahn C’83.
Dr. Gilbert Kaskey C’46 Gr’54, Philadelphia, vice president of human resources at what is now Unisys, until his retirement in 1987; March 18. He joined the firm in 1955 as a mathematician who designed computer programs. He was promoted to director of human resources in 1977. He served as dean of the graduate school of American College in Bryn Mawr, from 1987 to 2003. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army. One of his daughters is Karen Kaskey CW’72, whose children are Samantha K. Berman C’06 and Amanda K. Berman C’07.
Georgette Maxwell Kirk DH’46, Brooksville, Fla., Oct. 2006.
John Doane Morrison C’46, New Bern, N.C., Dec. 2, 2005.
Dr. Robert R. Rascoe Jr. M’46 GM’53, Wynnewood, Pa., associate professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine; March 13. He began teaching at Penn in 1953, was appointed assistant professor in 1962, and was promoted to associate professor in 1967. He became emeritus in 1985, but continued to teach medicine until 2005. Dr. Rascoe also taught residents and medical students in the Helen O. Dickens Center for Women’s Health. Dr. Deborah A. Driscoll, department chair, recalled that “he was very supportive of the residents and … received consistently excellent evaluations for his teaching.” He was honored with the Faculty Teaching Award in 1997. Also an obstetrician and gynecologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for over 40 years, he chaired the utilization management committee there. He had served in the U.S. Navy.
1947
Edwin C. Ashton Jr. ME’47, Tuscaloosa, Ala., Nov. 7.
Dr. Ruth R. Holburn CW’47, Ardmore, Pa., a former researcher in hemophilia at Thomas Jefferson University; March 10.
John R. Lester W’47, Arlington Heights, Ill., Feb. 16.
Lloyd S. Mortimer WEv’47, Elizabethtown, Pa., Nov. 14.
1948
Dr. Richard H. Dennis GM’48 GrM’50, Punta Gorda, Fla., April 2006.
John A. Glascott Jr. C’48, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., the retired senior vice president and national sales manager for MetroMail, a direct-marketing business, where he had worked for 30 years; Dec. 24. At Penn he lettered in football and track. A veteran of World War II, he also served in combat duty as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, First Marine Division, during the Korean War. He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Ralph K. Madway WEv’48, Ventnor, N.J., a builder and realtor in the Philadelphia area for more than 35 years; Nov. 16. In the 1950s he developed pre-fabricated housing for the military. With his brothers, the late Harry K. Madway W’31 L’36 and Sam, he built and owned the Park Towne Place apartments on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, and the Green Hill apartments—now condominiums—in Wynnewood. In 1970 he left the building business and formed Madway Real Estate Co. with his wife, Bette. During World War II he served with the U.S. Army’s 42nd Infantry Division in the Rhineland and Central Europe, which in April 1945 liberated the Dachau concentration camp. His son is William M. Madway W’79 WG’85, whose wife is Linda Mogul Madway C’79. Another of his brothers, A. Alan Madway W’36 L’39, is also deceased.
Herman G. Metzger Jr. ME’48 GCE’59, Quakertown, Pa., a former senior research analyst at Consulting Engineer Surveyor of Huntingdon Valley; Jan. 9.
Emma Klemm Steele Ed’48 GEd’49, Hopkinton, Mass., Aug. 2006.
Charles F. Sweeney Jr. C’48, Philadelphia, a composer and lyricist whose songs were performed by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, the Mills Brothers, and others; March 1. His collaboration with the late Moose Charlap C’50 produced some of his best-known lyrics, including “Here I Am in Love Again,” which appeared on the soundtrack of the 2003 film It Runs in the Family, and those for “Young Ideas” and “What Is the Secret of Your Success?”, written for the Philco TV Playhouse production of The King and Mrs. Candle. “He loved his time at Penn,” recalled his niece, Dr. Diane M. Schneider Gr’87, whose husband is Dr. Ronald L. Magolda Gr’80.
1949
Bohdan Chawluk WEv’49, Moon, Pa., Dec. 5.
Aleck H. Chizeck WG’49, Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 16.
Morton A. Kornreich C’49, White Plains, N.Y., chair of the UJA-Federation of New York who was a former national chair of the United Jewish Appeal; March 27. He and his twin brother, Matthew R. Kornreich W’48, were partners in a Manhattan insurance brokerage founded by their father in 1917. In 1985 and 1986 he was president of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York. When the UJA’s New York branch merged with the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in 1986, he became chair; it is now the UJA-Federation. From 1988 to 1990 he served as national chair of the United Jewish Appeal. He was also a vice president of the American Jewish Committee and chaired its Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. His son-in-law is Robert J. Rieger W’77, whose son is Zachary D. Rieger C’10.
Dr. John T. Kubaska D’49, Woonsocket, R.I., Jan. 13, 2006.
Dr. Gaylord W. Ojers GM’49, GrM’49, Rosemont, Pa., Nov. 14.
Lawrence M. Perskie L’49, Margate City, N.J., an attorney who had practiced in Atlantic City from 1949 until his retirement in 1990; Jan. 6. He had served as an engineer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Donald C. Smith W’49, Malvern, Pa., July 3, 2006.
Dr. Clifford F. Wright Jr. V’49, Moorestown, Pa., a veterinarian who established the Wright Veterinary Center in 1949 and practiced there for 58 years; Feb. 21. For 18 years he chaired the state Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. He also headed Penn’s Ben Franklin Associates and, in 1984, he received the Centennial Award of Merit from the School of Veterinary Medicine. Two of his sons are Dr. John A. Wright V’78 and Dr. Geoffrey H. Wright V’81.
Dr. Stephen C. Wright GM’49, Blairsville, Ga., June 2, 2006.
1950s
1950
David T. Brigham WG’50, Peabody, Mass., the retired head of adult education and dean of the evening and summer sessions at Bentley College; Feb. 15. He had served in the U.S. Army during the late 1940s.
Emilie Thornton Forte CW’50, Devon, Pa., Dec. 31.
Harry J. Kenny WG’50, Bryn Mawr, Pa., Feb. 27.
Richard Q. Kress C’50 WG’52, Greenwich, Conn., former president of Norelco, then the consumer-products division of North American Philips Corp.; Oct. 14, 2006. At Penn he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He joined North American Philips as director of advertising in 1963 and served as president of Norelco, 1971 to 1986. He was said to have single-handedly driven the rotary-shaver business in the 1970s, successfully battling disposable razors and other rotaries, and boosting sales to over $3.2 billion. Known as the “Norelco Kid” for wearing a Stetson hat with shaver heads decorating the band, he demonstrated his flair for the dramatic at annual sales meetings by donning costumes, including General Patton and “Norelco Man.” Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (home of the parent company) named a tulip in his honor.
Leonard G. Nessel WEv’50, Edgewater, Fla., Jan. 17. During the Korean War he served in the U.S. Army.
Harry V. Ryder Jr. C’50, West Harwich, Mass., a retired Foreign Service officer; Nov. 25. At Penn he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. In 1954 he joined the State Department, working as an economic-commercial officer overseas. During World War II he had served in the U.S. Army’s 78th Division in Europe; in the Korean War he was a battery commander in the 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion.
Margaret Alexander Smith Ed’50, Pt. Charlotte, Fla., Oct. 29, 2006.
Walter M. Wilson EE’50, Greensburg, Pa., a retired senior design engineer and development consultant at Brown Boveri, where he had worked for 35 years; Feb. 5. At Penn he was a member of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity. From 1951 to 1958 he was an assistant professor at Drexel Institute of Technology. An inventor, he is named on six patents. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a technician on electrically operated bomber turrets.
1951
Budd L. Beyer W’51, Berwick, Pa., July 31, 2006.
Thomas H. Duff C’51, Limerick, Pa., March 16.
Charles M. Flowers WG’51, Columbus, Ga., April 29, 2006.
William S. Keller WEv’51, New Holland, Pa., March 20.
Dr. Hunter P. McCartney G’51 Gr’58, Morgantown, W.V., professor emeritus of journalism at West Virginia University, March 5.
Margaret Wade Muldoon Nu’51, Livermore, Calif., Dec. 26.
Dr. Gilbert F. Norwood M’51, Hummels Wharf, Pa., a retired orthopedic surgeon and former chief of staff at Sunbury Community Hospital; Dec. 15. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army. From 1953 to 1955 he was a medical officer serving with the U.S. Air Force in Japan.
Dr. Robert E. Sass GM’51, Pittsburgh, Oct. 2006.
1952
Dr. Arnold L. Baseman C’52 G’54, Hallandale, Fla., Dec. 26.
Andrew S. Davis Jr. WEv’52, Atlanta, Feb. 8.
Elsie Ewald CCC’52 G’56, Philadelphia, June 12, 2006.
Dr. Eugene J. Gillespie GM’52, Clearwater, Fla., Sept. 18, 2006.
Paul E. Taylor Jr. MtE’52, New York, Jan. 21.
1953
David H. Harvey W’53, Devon, Pa., president of his family’s business, Boice Folding Box Co., until his retirement in 1996; Jan. 6. At Penn he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He had played semi-professional basketball for a time and served in the U.S. Army.
Joseph P. Heyen WEv’53, Reading, Pa., Nov. 19.
Dr. Thomas E. Johnson D’53, Ormond Beach, Fla., a dentist who had maintained a practice in Rhode Island until his retirement in 1997; Feb. 17. During the Korean War he served in the U.S. Naval Dental Corps.
Richard Sharpe Ar’53, Norwich, Conn., an architect who had practiced there since 1957; Jan. 1. His buildings include the Norwich Superior Courthouse and the New London County Mutual Insurance building. He designed the extensive renovations to the Malaysian Embassy in New York. A preservationist, he tackled detailed historic restorations of landmark Norwich buildings, including the Shannon office building and the 1887 Flatiron building. He oversaw the salvaging and rebuilding of the 1926 St. Anthony Chapel on a new site in Greeneville. His cousin is Dr. Richard D. Grossman D’53.
Dr. William A. Truban V’53, Woodstock, Va., the first licensed veterinarian in Shenandoah County, and a state senator for the 27th District from 1971 to 1992; Feb. 3. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the China-Burma-India Theater, where he earned three Bronze Stars.
1954
Dr. Robert F. Barnett Jr. M’54, Cadillac, Mich., a retired radiologist who had maintained a practice there for many years until his retirement in 1990; Feb. 13. During the 1950s he served as a surgeon in the U.S. Navy Marines.
Robert W. Biehler W’54, Olean, N.Y., March 2.
Patricia Teetsell Carson NTS’54, Bryn Mawr, Pa., March 26. Her husband is Dr. John S. Carson M’50 GM’55.
John R. Deemy W’54, Spring Hill, Tenn., Jan. 15.
Catherine Connolly Oblaczynski Nu’54, Southampton, Pa., Jan. 14.
Nathan Oser ME’54, Albany, N.Y., Sept. 25, 2005.
1955
Dr. Paul L. Carmichael GM’55, Park City, Utah, an ophthalmologist who had maintained a practice in Lansdale, Pa., for more than 40 years, until his retirement in 1996; Dec. 26. He was on the staff of the North Penn Hospital and Wills Eye Hospital. A licensed pilot, he enjoyed flying, skiing, and outdoor recreation. During the Korean War he served in a mobile army surgical hospital unit. Three of his children are Paul L. Carmichael Jr. EE’73, Mary K. Carmichael MT’74, and Robert W. Carmichael W’80.
Carol Kern Jones DH’55, Center Valley, Pa., a dental hygienist for 30 years; Nov. 11.
1956
E. Joseph Acciavatti WEv’56, Manchester, N.J., Dec. 14.
1958
John E. Haas WG’58, Lakewood, N.J., Nov. 1.
L. Brooks Lakin C’58, Reisterstown, Md., retired head of history at the Park School in Brooklandville, where he had taught for 40 years; March 8. He coached basketball teams for many years, including an undefeated season in 1969.
Dr. Donald S. Mayes D’58, Elizabethtown, Pa., a retired dental-insurance consultant; Feb. 5. He began his dental career in 1959 in rural Sunbury, Pa., but left private practice in 1970 to become vice president of Pennsylvania Blue Shield, where he developed its first dental plan. He was vice president for dental programs at Alpha Health Strategies, before founding his own dental-benefits consulting firm in 1991.
1959
Gene P. Brady WG’59, St. Augustine, Fla., a security analyst on Wall Street for over 25 years, who had written two books on the stock market; Jan. 31. He had served as an aviator in the U.S. Navy for six years.
Stephen R. Comer C’59, Lansdale, Pa., a retired journalism teacher at Wissahickon High School; March 1. He had taught there from 1962 until retirement in 1999. From 1966 to 1984 he was head coach of the boys’ basketball team; a highlight was victory over another high school at the Palestra in 1972.
Nelson G. Dewey CCC’59, Villanova, Pa., a retired realtor who later worked in property-management division of Weichert Realtors; Jan. 6. Last year he assisted his sons in the renovation of a home for the Extreme Makeover television series. During the Korean War he served in the U.S. Navy in the Mediterranean with an underwater demolition team.
Robert L. Gray GEE’59, Millsboro, Del., Dec. 22.
Dr. William G. Smith M’59, Fallbrook, Calif., Sept. 30, 2006.
1960s
1960
Dr. Elias Abrutyn C’60 GM’71, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., associate provost and associate dean of academic affairs at Drexel University College of Medicine; Feb. 22. For more than 30 years he taught at Penn’s School of Medicine, and from 1993 to 2005 was senior scholar in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University. He was past president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and served on the council of the International Society of Cardiovascular Diseases. For 29 years he was an associate editor of The Annals of Internal Medicine. He was co-editor of the textbook Saunders Infection Control Reference Service, and wrote many articles, including on bacterial endocarditis, which was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. His wife is Leslye Abrutyn GEd’03.
Alfred T. DiMarino C’60, Kalamazoo, Mich., Feb. 28.
Dr. Alfred E. Duncan III M’60, Denver, Aug. 17, 2006.
Richard J. Farrelly Sr. GEE’60, Berwyn, Pa., an engineer with General Electric for 32 years, who had worked on NASA’s Apollo re-entry system and the MX missile; March 24. Retiring from GE in 1986, he worked briefly for a software company in Princeton, N.J.
Dr. Clark A. Heydon Jr. D’60, Ridgefield, Conn., an orthodontist who had maintained a practice for over 41 years, until retirement in 2006; March 10. At Penn he was a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon honorary fraternity. A captain in the U.S. Air Force, based at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, he worked with the dental team treating the Mercury project astronauts, including John Glenn and Scott Carpenter.
June Taylor Norris G’60, Jenkintown, Pa., retired senior editor with Springhouse Corp., a publisher of nursing books; Feb. 19.
Dr. Howard L. Smith D’60, Havertown, Pa., Feb. 12, 2006.
1962
Dr. Richard J. Dobies GM’62, Dayton, Ohio, March 2006.
Richard L. Grinberg C’62 WG’64, Pittsburgh, a retired advertising executive; Nov. 2. After leaving advertising, he worked for the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh Foundation.
Dr. Kathryn L. Popowniak M’62, Prescott, Ariz., May 5, 2006.
Alfred G. Zantzinger C’62 G’67, Devault, Pa., an ethnomusicologist and documentary filmmaker who for more than 35 years worked to preserve endangered cultures; Feb. 16. His films include Pipers and Wrens, Songs of the Adventurers, and Songs of the Badius. He also co-produced bluegrass, jazz, and African folk-music albums; his 1976 album Ola Belle Reed and Family is in the Country Music Hall of Fame. During the 1970s he spent time in South Africa collecting and archiving music, and went on to make 14 films about sub-Saharan Africa. His film Religion at the Family Level,about ancient ritual music of Zimbabwe, aired on PBS television. In 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Society of Ethnomusicology.
1963
Walter J. Monahan C’63, Burlington, Vt., Oct. 14, 2006.
1964
John N. Kolb II C’64 WEv’78, Bethlehem, Pa., Dec. 20.
Henry E. Thompson EE’64, Baltimore, April 21, 2006.
1965
Frank A. D’Lauro Jr. GAr’65, Worcester, Pa., a commercial builder and developer; Feb. 10. He had chaired the Montgomery County Housing Authority for 15 years. During the Vietnam War he served in the U.S. Army, earning the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Solders Medal for heroism.
Jeffrey H. Fisch W’65, Madison, N.J., Dec. 27.
1966
Dr. Peter J. Finnerty WG’66, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the former head of government lobbying for Sea-Land Service; Feb. 9. He held a third mate’s license and was a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Karen Graeff Flanagan DH’66, Morristown, N.J., a dental hygienist and later a travel agent; Oct. 16, 2006.
1967
Dr. Alonzo Edmiston Jr. V’67, San Diego, a retired veterinarian; Feb. 28. He was one of the first African American students to receive a doctorate in veterinary medicine. After moving to San Diego he and a partner operated the Mission Valley Pet Clinic, Plaza Boulevard Pet Hospital, and Paradise Valley Road Animal Hospital in the area. In 1992 he received the Alumni Award of Merit for establishing the Alonzo Edmiston Dean’s Scholarship, Penn’s first endowed minority scholarship, and for his work preparing minority students for auxiliary positions in veterinary medicine.
Terry K. Glenn L’67, Abington, Pa., vice president of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, until his retirement in 2004; March 8. He had practiced law in New York and Boston, and was a securities executive in Cleveland before joining Merrill Lynch in 1983. He chaired the board of the Investment Company Institute, 2000-02.
Richard Ajax Moody SW’67, Albany, Ore., Feb. 20, 2006.
1968
Dr. Hans R. Baumgartner Gr’68, Los Angeles, Nov. 10.
Dr. James A. Dvorak Gr’68, Bethesda, Md., a senior scientist at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and pioneering malaria researcher; Feb. 5. He ran the biochemical and biophysical parasitology section at NIAID. In 1975 his groundbreaking microscopic innovation that allowed him to videotape malaria parasites as they invaded red blood cells was featured on the cover of Science magazine. He also helped identify the Duffy antigen. He was also a renowned expert on Chagas’ disease. At the time of his death Dr. Dvorak was working on several projects, including the use of nuclear microscopy to view surface changes on red blood cells infected with malaria, according to the medical journal Lancet. “He was probably a genius,” said Dr. Alan Sher, chief of NIAID’s Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases.
1970s
1970
Lewis W. Parker WG’70, Old Greenwich, Conn., a managing partner of Thorsell Parker Partners, Inc., a money-management firm in Westport he co-founded in 1992; June 5, 2005. He served three tours of active duty during the Vietnam War, followed by 16 years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, retiring in 1987.
1971
Dr. Bernard D. Steinberg GrE’71, Philadelphia, professor emeritus of electrical engineering; Philadelphia, Feb. 21. He worked at Philco Corp. in Philadelphia before cofounding, in 1951, General Atronics, a communications technology company. He sold the firm to Magnavox in 1971, when he joined the Penn faculty as a visiting professor at the Moore School. In 1973 he became full professor of electrical engineering; he was appointed emeritus professor in 1996. For nearly three decades he was director of Penn’s Valley Forge Research Center, where he developed the radio camera and demonstrated two-dimensional radar imaging suitable for military use, and which also led to improvements in medical ultrasound imaging. In 1979 he co-founded Interspec Inc., a medical-imaging and research company in Philadelphia; it was sold in the 1990s. In retirement he studied the history of ancient Israel and lectured at local synagogues on Judaic topics. Dr. Steinberg wrote three books on high-resolution radar imaging and held several patents in radar and electronics. He received a medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for his contributions to radar. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army; stationed in Oak Ridge, Tenn., he monitored core uranium samples for the Manhattan Project. His sons are Geoffrey A. Steinberg, who is married to Alison Bogert Steinberg SW’76, and Harris M. Steinberg C’78 GAr’82, whose wife is Jane Stevens Steinberg GAr’82. His daughter is Emily J. Steinberg C’87 FA’87 GFA’91.
Dr. Joseph R. Tuckosh V’71 GV’74, Hockessin, Del., retired director of medical research at Astra Zeneca Corp. in Wilmington, where he was a specialist in ophthalmology research and veterinary surgical services; Dec. 12. He was also a professional diving instructor.
1972
Ruth A. Rodenburg Nu’72, Walton, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2005.
1974
Dr. Elliott D. Mossman L’74, Blawenburg, N.J., emeritus associate professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University; March 16. His career at Penn spanned nearly four decades, beginning in 1968, when he joined the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. During his tenure he chaired the department, served as associate dean for undergraduate studies in the School of Arts and Sciences, and was director of the Center for Soviet and East European Studies. He was also a member of the Faculty Senate committee on administration and the University Council academic-review committee, before retiring in 2006. A well-known specialist in Russian literature with a specific interest in Boris Pasternak, he compiled, edited, and translated The Correspondence of Boris Pasternak and Olga Freidenberg, 1910-1954. He was a former editor of the scholarly journal Slavic Review. At his death he was finishing a book on Leo Tolstoy. His daughter is Ellen O. Mossman C’07.
1975
Dr. Henry B. Polin M’75, Kirkland, Wash., Nov. 1, 2005.
1977
Bonnie Williams Berry C’77 W’77, London, a financier and management consultant who fostered cultural and business understanding between Japan and Britain; Nov. 24. Born to Christian missionaries in Japan, she spoke Japanese before English. She began her career as an investment banker with J.P. Morgan in New York. In 1987 she went to London to manage Japanese securities trading; after the market crash that year, she headed Morgan’s advisory business for Japanese companies in Europe. In 1990 she started her own advisory firm, Waterbridge International, for Japanese executives in Britain and Europe. She was a former vice chair of the Japan Society. In 2000 she wrote a book, in English and Japanese, Communication Gap: How to be an International Citizen; it was a bestseller in Japan.
Dr. F. James Connaughton GM’77, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a former assistant professor of medicine at the University; Dec. 23. He also had maintained a private practice in Phoenixville, Pa., from 1976 until his retirement. He served in the U.S. Navy, 1968-69, including a tour at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Danang, Vietnam.
1978 | Lynn D. Williams C’78, Boynton Beach, Fla., a retired senior computer programmer for Walker Inter-Active Systems; Dec. 21.
1979
Dr. Anne M. Ferrari GNu’79, Fox Chase, Pa., a teacher of community-health nursing and clinical education at Drexel University; Feb. 16.
1980s
1980
Dr. William R. Schnarr G’80, Woodbury, N.J., Nov. 27.
1985
Dr. Bruce E. Laidig V’85, Newburg, Pa., a veterinarian who specialized in reproduction on large breeding-horse ranches; March 15. Earlier, he and Dr. Lisa E. Latshaw V’85 had operated veterinary clinics in Newburg, and in Scotland.
1990s
1991
Dr. Marni Goldman C’91 MtE’91, Oakland, Calif., associate director of the Office of Science Outreach at Stanford University; Feb. 24. She helped create the summer program for high-school science teachers; helped place disadvantaged high-school students in internship positions at Stanford; and created an annual program for community-college students from under-represented ethnic minorities to visit Stanford laboratories and meet with science and engineering faculty.
Rosemarie T. Salvo C’91, Medford, N.J., Nov. 1.
1993
Bryce G. Broughton C’93, Driggs, Idaho, founder of Teton Timberframe, a building company; Jan. 25. He had volunteered his woodworking skills for a group home for Casa Ananda, a charity for street children and homeless young adults in Mexico City. He was an avid outdoorsman and adventurer.
1999 | Christopher L. Lyon GFA’99, Tyler, Tex., an artist; Jan. 9. A scheduled solo exhibition, Two Hundred Seventy Degrees, was held in March at Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia. He had had previous solo shows there and at Florida Southern College and Gallery Alpha M in Tokyo. And he was a certified motorcycle mechanic for Ducati and BMW. His wife is Alexis Serio GFA’00.
2000s
2002
Alan Bell C’02 W’02 WG’08, Philadelphia, March 3.
Linda A. DiSandro GEd’02, Philadelphia, the former assistant director of admissions at Holy Family University; Nov. 23.
Jim Medrano WG’02, Changuinola, Panama, March 3. He had worked for Chiquita Brands International.
Faculty and Staff
Dr. Elias Abrutyn. See Class of 1960.
Dr. Robert Austrian, Philadelphia, the John Herr Musser Professor Emeritus of Research Medicine in the School of Medicine; March 25. For more than five decades, beginning in the 1940s, he devoted his professional life to conquering pneumococcal pneumonia, a major killer of the elderly and chronically ill. His early research in this area was interrupted by World War II, when he was sent to the Fiji Islands to treat military casualties. He also did research on malaria medications and studied scrub typhus in Burma. Despite the introduction of penicillin and other antibiotics after the war, he remained unconvinced that pneumococcal pneumonia was vanquished. Through his work as a clinician, epidemiologist, and microbiologist, he proved that the disease remained a killer and developed a vaccine, personally supervising its clinical trials. In 1962 he left the State University of New York College of Medicine at Brooklyn to join the medical faculty at Penn, where he occupied the Musser professorship and served as department chair. Under the aegis of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases he developed a pneumonia vaccine by conducting clinical trials among gold miners in South Africa. In 1976 Dr. Austrian reported it was both safe and efficacious; two vaccines based on his work were licensed in 1977 and 1983. Despite skepticism in the medical community about the vaccine’s effectiveness in the United States, a carefully performed case-control study by him and others conclusively established its benefits (The New England Journal of Medicine, 1991). In recent years he was an active participant in the weekly clinical infectious-diseases case-management conferences at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in his laboratory daily, personally analyzing pneumococcal isolates received from colleagues around the world, to assist in the development of future vaccines. Among Dr. Austrian’s many awards and honors are the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award in 1978, the Bristol Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 1986, and The Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement from the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases in 2001. The auditorium in Penn’s Clinical Research Building was named in his honor.
Dr. F. James Connaughton. See Class of 1977.
Dr. Harold I. Lief, Bryn Mawr, Pa., professor emeritus of psychiatry; March 15. A pioneer for education on human sexuality, he joined the Penn faculty in 1967 as professor of psychiatry and director of the Division of Family Study. He also served as director of the Marriage Council of Philadelphia and the Center for the Study of Sex Education in Medicine, a pioneering program in North America. After retiring from Penn in 1982, he was a psychiatric consultant at Pennsylvania Hospital and had a private practice in Wayne. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. His sons are Oliver F. Lief C’88 and Frederick V. Lief C’90.
Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid, Drexel Hill, Pa., the Blanchard Professor in Chemistry at the University and Nobel laureate; Feb. 7. A faculty member at Penn for a half-century, he joined the Department of Chemistry in 1955; he was appointed assistant professor in 1956, associate professor in 1961, and professor in 1964. He had also recently accepted the James Von Her Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology. In 2002 he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Dallas and in 2004 the Jilin University, helping set up the Jilin MacDiarmid Institute of Organic Nanomaterials there. He also helped establish the MacDiarmid Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, his alma mater. Dr. MacDiarmid received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000, along with former Penn professor Dr. Alan J. Heeger and Dr. Hideki Shirakawa of the University of Tsukuba in Japan, for their 1977 discovery that plastics can be modified to conduct electricity, much like metals, which unleashed new research worldwide. Around 20 conducting polymers have been developed for use in cellphone and pager displays, transistors, light-emitting diodes, and lightweight electromagnetic shields, with other uses being developed. On receiving the prize, he called it “an award to Penn,” and “a wonderful recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary research … among chemists, physicists, electrochemists, and electronic engineers.” [See “Gazetteer,” Nov|Dec 2000.] Ardent in his belief that research and teaching go hand in hand, he continued to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in inorganic chemistry while devoting much time to his research projects, including a collaborative effort with the Rena Rowan Cancer Research Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He had published over 600 research papers and held more than two dozen patents. His other honors include the Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists in 1984, the Top 100 Innovation Award from Science Digest in 1985, and the University’s Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 2001. That same year Dr. MacDiarmid was made a member of the Order of New Zealand, his birth country’s highest honor, for his contributions to chemistry and the science community. In 2003 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the world’s oldest scientific society. At Penn the Alan MacDiarmid Endowed Term Chair was established in his honor. Called “an extraordinary scientist,” by former University president Dr. Judith Rodin CW’66 Hon’04, he was remembered by Dr. Rebecca Bushnell, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, as “a path-breaking scientist, cherished colleague, teacher, and mentor.” [See “The Boy Chemist at 75,” March/April 2002), and “Gazetteer,” March/April 2007.] One of his daughters is Heather S. McConnell PT’77 and his son is Duncan C. MacDiarmid C’81.
Dr. Kenneth D. Matthews Jr. See Class of 1945.
Dr. Elliott D. Mossman. See Class of 1974.
Dr. Covey T. Oliver, Easton, Md., the Ferdinand Wakeman Hubbell Professor Emeritus of Law, who had served as U.S. ambassador to Colombia (1964-66) and as assistant secretary of state (1967-69); Feb. 22. He came to the Penn Law School as a visiting professor in 1956. In 1963 he was appointed full professor, and in 1969 was named to the Hubbell chair. He served as acting dean of the law school in 1978 and retired later that year. While at Penn he taught courses in trade regulation and international law. Dr. Oliver had served on the inter-American juridical committee of the Organization of American States. While he served as assistant secretary of state, he also coordinated the Alliance for Progress, an aid program created by President Kennedy as a counterweight to the Cuban revolution. He was the U.S. executive director of the International Band for Reconstruction and Development. A former president of the American Society of International Law, Dr. Oliver was also former editor of the American Journal of International Law.
Hasan Ozbekhan, Philadelphia, professor emeritus of management at the Wharton School; Feb. 12. He came to Penn in 1971 as professor of statistics and operations research. In 1979 he was appointed chair of the newly created Department of Social Systems Sciences. He also served as graduate group chair through 1983. He retired in 1993. While at Penn he was director of research for the Club of Rome, the international group of planners, diplomats, scientists, and academics; a paper he wrote, “The Predicament of Mankind” became an influential core document of the group. Now considered a “forward-looking document” by his former colleagues, it addressed issues of energy, overpopulation, resource depletion, and environmental degradation, and argued that global problems were interconnected and should be dealt with collaboratively. Dr. Ozbekhan also served, during the 1970s, as a consultant to the French government; in 1977 he presented a lecture on the future of Paris before the Royal Society in London.
Dr. Robert R. Rascoe Jr. See Class of 1946.
Dr. Bernard D. Steinberg. See Class of 1971.
