Deaths: Faculty and Staff

Donald E. Crabb, the associate director of undergraduate and graduate studies in computer science and a senior lecturer in computer science, died February 26 in Chicago from pancreatic disease. He was 44. Crabb began teaching at the University as a history graduate student in 1979. He wrote a syndicated Chicago Sun-Times column, hosted a radio program on WGN, and appeared weekly on the local television show Fox Thing in the Morning, speaking about computers and the Internet. Crabb also wrote several books and edited for Hayden Books. He is survived by his parents and a sister.

Hans G. Güterbock, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake distinguished service professor emeritus in the Oriental Institute, Near Eastern languages & civilizations, and linguistics, died March 29 in Chicago at age 91. Born in Germany, Güterbock taught at Turkey's Ankara University from 1936 to 1948, joining the Oriental Institute in 1949. His research focused on the Hittites. Combining philology and his command of the Akkadian language with archaeology and history, he co-launched the Chicago Hittite Dictionary project in 1976 and served as co-editor until his death. In 1996, Güterbock received the American Oriental Society Medal of Merit for his lifetime contributions to Hittitology. Survivors include his wife, Frances; two sons; and five grandchildren.

Bruce A. Morrissette, the Bernard E. and Ellen C. Sunny distinguished service professor emeritus in Romance languages & literatures, died February 6 in Chicago at age 88. A critic of 20th-century literature and cinema, Morrissette was known for heralding the "new novel" that revolutionized French literature after WWII and for his books on French novelist and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet. After living in Paris in the early 1930s, Morrissette returned to the U.S., taught at Washington University, and joined the Chicago faculty in 1962, becoming the chair of his department. He is survived by his son, James.

Paul B. Sigler, a former professor in the biological sciences, died January 11 in New Haven, CT, of a heart attack. He was 66. After completing a medical residency, Sigler switched to basic research, becoming a chemist, structural biologist, and crystallographer. After spending 21 years on the Chicago faculty, Sigler became a professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University in 1989. He is survived by his wife, Jo; five children; and eight grandchildren.