The University of Chicago Magazine: June 2001, Chicago Journal

Theodore N. Pullman, a former professor of medicine, died February 8 in Hyde Park. He was 82. Pullman did research in malaria treatment, kidney function, and in the molecular biology of the thyroid. He joined the faculty in 1946, becoming a professor of medicine in 1964 and section chief of nephrology in 1965. In 1973 he joined Veterans Administration Lakeside Medical Center, also becoming a professor of medicine at Northwestern University. Retiring from Northwestern in 1987, he returned to the U of C to study molecular biology. Among his many honors, Pullman was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American College of Physicians and served as president of the Chicago Society for Internal Medicine. Survivors include his wife, Marjorie Schlytter Pullman, AB'41.

Sherwin Rosen, AM'62, PhD'66, the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman distinguished service professor in economics, died March 17 in Hyde Park. He was 62. Rosen, a microeconomist with a special interest in industrial organizations and labor economics, developed a number of influential theories to explain how different forces influence such items as home prices and celebrity salaries. After teaching at the University of Rochester from 1964 to 1977, Rosen joined the U of C faculty, where he chaired the economics department from 1988 to 1994. He wrote numerous papers and was editor, co-editor, or author of four books, including A Disequilibrium, Model of Demand for Factors of Production, and Implicit Contract Theory. At the time of his death he was president of the American Economics Association. Survivors include his wife, Sharon; and two daughters.

Helen Smith Bevington, PhB'26, an author and professor, died March 16 in Hyde Park. She was 94. Bevington joined the English faculty at Duke University in 1943 and retired as a professor emeritus in 1976. She wrote 12 books of poetry and essays including the 1965 Charley Smith Girl, and her 1996 memoir, The Third and Only Way. An avid traveler, she toured the world in her 70s in search of her own "earthly paradise." She is survived by a son, David M. Bevington, the Phyllis Fay Horton distinguished service professor in the humanities, and five grandchildren.

Martha J. Bernheim, MD'28, an obstetrician, died January 12 in Chicago at age 102. Bernheim had a practice on the South Side, delivering 2,500 children during her 56-year career.

Milton L. Durchslag, PhB'28, JD'30, an attorney, died February 6 in Evanston, IL, at age
93. He and his brother had a successful private practice, Durchslag & Durchslag, specializing in real-estate and probate law. His brother's will established a scholarship fund in their names that helps pay tuition costs for three Law School students each year. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Potovsky Durchslag, PhB'29; a daughter; three sons; and seven grandchildren.

Sidney Weinhouse, SB'33, PhD'36, a cancer researcher, died February 9 in Philadelphia at age 91. From 1963 to 1975 Weinhouse directed the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at the Temple University School of Medicine. For more than 30 years he also taught biochemistry at Temple, first as an adjunct and later full professor. From 1969 to 1980 he was editor in chief of Cancer Research, the journal of the American Association of Cancer Research, and served on the organization's board of directors including a one-year term as president. He is survived by his wife, Adele; two daughters; a son; a brother; two sisters; and five grandchildren.

Elisabeth Cason Nicholson, PhB'34, a homemaker, died July 8, 1999, in Sarasota, FL. She was 85. Nicholson traveled extensively with her husband, living in The Hague, the Netherlands; and Brussels, Belgium, before settling permanently in Sarasota. She is survived by her husband, Edward W. S. Nicholson, SB'34; two sons; and three grandchildren.

Malcolm L. Smith, AM'34, died February 12, 2000, in Washington, DC, at age 88. After working as a statistician with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Smith moved to Washington, DC, and began his career in personnel management for the Navy. He retired in 1975 as director of manpower management for Naval Material Command, receiving the Secretary of the Navy's Distinguished Civilian Service Award. Smith was a 52-year member of the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington and served on the board of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations. Survivors include a daughter, a sister, three brothers, and two grandchildren.

S. Kirson Weinberg, AB'34, AM'35, PhD'42, an authority on social problems and mental illness, died February 23 in Chicago. He was 88. Weinberg's 1955 Incest Behavior was the first definitive sociological study on this subject and created a forum for victims, clinicians, and policy makers to address the problem. He also wrote books and articles on the nature of friendship, crime victims, and the sociology of mental disorders. After studying schizophrenia and delinquency in Ghana, Weinberg joined Roosevelt University as chair of the sociology and anthropology departments and later held teaching posts at University of California-Berkeley and the University of Minnesota before joining the sociology faculty at Loyola University in Chicago. He is survived by his wife, Rita Mohr Weinberg, AM'47, PhD'55; a daughter, Carol R. Weinberg, AB'73; two sons, including Douglas D.
Weinberg, JD'93; a sister, Fannie Weinberg Press, PhB'31; and six grandchildren.

Helen Kotas Hirsch, AB'36, a musician, died December 15 in Chicago at age 84. From 1941 to 1947 Hirsch played principal French horn in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as the first woman to hold that position in a major American orchestra. She held the same position with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra from 1950 to 1958 and in the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1954 to 1959. Retiring in 1965, she taught at the American and Sherwood Conservatories of Music and served the Hyde Park community as the treasurer of the Hyde Park Union Church and in the women's philanthropy organization. She is survived by her stepdaughters, Helen Hirsch Kent, AB'43 and Jean Hirsch Priest, PhB'47, SB'50, MD'53.

Robert L. Brackenbury, AB'39, AM'39, PhD'48, a retired professor, died February 7 in Des Moines, IA. He was 83. After serving as a lieutenant in the Navy in WWII, he joined the faculty at University of Southern California's School of Education where he taught for 30 years, chairing the department of social and philosophical foundations and serving as president of the Far Western Philosophy of Education Society. He is survived by his wife, Opal; three daughters; and four grandchildren.

Betty Grace Press, AB'39, a retired teacher, died September 25 in Lincolnshire, IL. She was 82. After years of homemaking and volunteering, Press earned her master's degree at Northeastern Illinois University and taught English at Maine Township High School East from the mid-1960s until her 1983 retirement. Survivors include five daughters, including Barbara Press Turner, AM'66, and Marjorie Press Linblom, JD'78; a sister, Carolyn Grace Brinkerhoff, AB'45; and 14 grandchildren.

Barbara Crane Gibson, AB'40, a homemaker and volunteer, died May 24, 2000, in Madison, WI, at age 82. A longtime member of the American Association of University Women, Gibson helped raise funds for college scholarships for women. She volunteered for public schools and libraries and led Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops. She is survived by a daughter; a son; a brother, Ronald F. Crane, AB'42, AM'47; and two grandchildren.

Janet Bashen Switzer, X'41, a homemaker, died December 10 in Chicago. She was 82. Switzer taught piano and performed recitals with the Glen Ellyn Musicians Club. A lover of books, nature, and music, she continued to enjoy her crafts and hobbies after suffering a brain tumor in 1950 that led to the deterioration of her sight. She is survived by a son, a stepdaughter, a stepson, a brother, a sister, and ten grandchildren.

Robert A. Whitmore, PhD'44, a retired research director, died February 3 in Riverside, CA, at age 88. For over 30 years Whitmore worked for the FMC Citrus Division in Riverside, helping break Japanese trade barriers against California citrus products and developing patented devices and techniques for food processing. After retiring in 1977 he served seven years in the Office on Aging in Eureka, CA, and worked to draft bills to improve medical delivery to seniors. He is survived by four daughters, a son, three brothers, two sisters, and nine grandchildren.

Minnie Redmond Bowles Johnson, AM'45, a librarian, died January 29 in Evanston, IL. She was 90. Johnson, a former public school teacher, was a librarian at Chicago Teachers College and at Fisk University. She belonged to the American Library Association, the Chicago Library Association, the American Association of University Professors, and the American Association of University Women.

Julia Lipow Dubin, AM'47, a social worker, died January 1 in Deerfield, IL. She was 91. Dubin worked for Chicago's Department of Welfare and the American Public Welfare Association (APWA), retiring in 1971 as director for the APWA's on Aging. She is survived by a sister-in-law, Elisabeth Ruch Dubin, AB'37, AM'39, PhD'46, and a brother-in-law, Robert Dubin, AB'36, AM'40, PhD'47.

Aaron M. Boom, PhD'48, a retired professor of history, died August 26 in Memphis, TN. He was 81. After serving in the Navy during WWII, Boom earned his doctorate at Chicago and joined the University of Memphis faculty in 1949, where he remained until his retirement in 1983, chairing the history department for 18 years and serving as president of the West Tennessee Historical Society. Survivors include his wife, Kathleen Williams Boom, PhD'49; two sons; and five step-grandchildren.

Ben C. Bowman, BLS'48, a retired librarian, died February 1 in Topsham, ME, at age 88. Bowman worked at the Newberry Library in Chicago for 16 years before directing libraries at the University of Vermont, Hunter College, and the University of Rochester. Retiring in 1976 to Maine, Bowman maintained his professional interests with the Rockport Friends of the Library and the Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations. He is survived by his wife, Marion.

Arthur W. Hummel Jr., AM'49, a former ambassador, died February 6 in Chevy Chase, MD. He was 80. Hummel negotiated a 1982 agreement on United States arms sales to Taiwan that smoothed relations between United States and China and allowed the U.S. to continue supplying F-5E fighter planes to Taiwan as obligated by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. Joining the Foreign Service in 1950, he served as U.S. ambassador to Burma and to Ethiopia in 1975. In 1976 he was named assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific. Survivors include his wife, Betty Lou; two sons; a brother; and three grandchildren.

William A. Beardslee, PhD'51, a Biblical scholar and theologian, died January 25 in Claremont, CA. He was 84. Beardslee taught the Bible and religion at Emory University where he also held several administrative posts, including director of the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts and acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A founder of literary criticism of the New Testament, Beardslee worked as a member of the Revised Standard Version Bible Committee of the National Council of Churches and editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion and Semeia. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia; a son; three stepsons; a stepdaughter; two brothers; two sisters; and 12 grandchildren.

Gene H. Borowitz, PhB'51, a psychiatrist, died October 3 in Chicago. He was 71. Borowitz, who taught at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (1959-1987), was also a consultant to the MacArthur Foundation and helped develop its system of awarding fellowships known as "genius grants." He is survived by his wife, Selma Shore Borowitz, AB'50, and a son, Michael J. Borowitz, AM'88, PhD'93.

John B. Urner, PhD'58, an urban planner, died October 13 in South Africa at age 70. Urner headed national planning projects in Libya and Bangladesh and primary-education projects in Bhutan and Lesotho. In Egypt he monitored development projects of international agencies on behalf of the Egyptian government, and in the Philippines he helped develop provincial road networks and planning capacity. He is survived by his wife, Carol; a daughter; a son; and a granddaughter.

Ann Marie Schwartz Kazee, AB'76, an assistant professor and director of neuropathology at SUNY Medical Center, died February 1, 2000. She was 45. Survivors include her husband, Jerry; a daughter; two sons; and a stepdaughter.

L. Francis Stella, MBA'76, died June 4, 2000, of colon cancer in Greensboro, NC, at age 65. Stella worked for International Harvester in Chicago and retired from Volvo Truck in Greensboro, NC, in 1993. He also taught business at the Guilford Technical Community College in Greensboro. Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; two daughters; and two grandchildren.

Karen A. Sorensen, MBA'88, died February 22 in Skokie, IL. She was 47. A health management consultant since 1985, Sorensen was the president of her own company, Sorensen Consulting & Development Company, and she frequently spoke and wrote on national and international health services management issues. Survivors include her mother and a sister.



JUNE 2001: CLASS NOTES, DEATHS, BOOKS DEATHS Faculty Theodore N. Pullman, a former professor of medicine, died February 8 in Hyde Park. He was 82. Pullman did research in malaria treatment, kidney function, and in the molecular biology of the thyroid. He joined the faculty in 1946, becoming a professor of medicine in 1964 and section chief of nephrology in 1965. In 1973 he joined Veterans Administration Lakeside Medical Center, also becoming a professor of medicine at Northwestern University. Retiring from Northwestern in 1987, he returned to the U of C to study molecular biology. Among his many honors, Pullman was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American College of Physicians and served as president of the Chicago Society for Internal Medicine. Survivors include his wife, Marjorie Schlytter Pullman, AB'41. Sherwin Rosen, AM'62, PhD'66, the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman distinguished service professor in economics, died March 17 in Hyde Park. He was 62. Rosen, a microeconomist with a special interest in industrial organizations and labor economics, developed a number of influential theories to explain how different forces influence such items as home prices and celebrity salaries. After teaching at the University of Rochester from 1964 to 1977, Rosen joined the U of C faculty, where he chaired the economics department from 1988 to 1994. He wrote numerous papers and was editor, co-editor, or author of four books, including A Disequilibrium, Model of Demand for Factors of Production, and Implicit Contract Theory. At the time of his death he was president of the American Economics Association. Survivors include his wife, Sharon; and two daughters. 1920s and 1930s Helen Smith Bevington, PhB'26, an author and professor, died March 16 in Hyde Park. She was 94. Bevington joined the English faculty at Duke University in 1943 and retired as a professor emeritus in 1976. She wrote 12 books of poetry and essays including the 1965 Charley Smith Girl, and her 1996 memoir, The Third and Only Way. An avid traveler, she toured the world in her 70s in search of her own "earthly paradise." She is survived by a son, David M. Bevington, the Phyllis Fay Horton distinguished service professor in the humanities, and five grandchildren. Martha J. Bernheim, MD'28, an obstetrician, died January 12 in Chicago at age 102. Bernheim had a practice on the South Side, delivering 2,500 children during her 56-year career. Milton L. Durchslag, PhB'28, JD'30, an attorney, died February 6 in Evanston, IL, at age 93. He and his brother had a successful private practice, Durchslag & Durchslag, specializing in real-estate and probate law. His brother's will established a scholarship fund in their names that helps pay tuition costs for three Law School students each year. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Potovsky Durchslag, PhB'29; a daughter; three sons; and seven grandchildren. Sidney Weinhouse, SB'33, PhD'36, a cancer researcher, died February 9 in Philadelphia at age 91. From 1963 to 1975 Weinhouse directed the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at the Temple University School of Medicine. For more than 30 years he also taught biochemistry at Temple, first as an adjunct and later full professor. From 1969 to 1980 he was editor in chief of Cancer Research, the journal of the American Association of Cancer Research, and served on the organization's board of directors including a one-year term as president. He is survived by his wife, Adele; two daughters; a son; a brother; two sisters; and five grandchildren. Elisabeth Cason Nicholson, PhB'34, a homemaker, died July 8, 1999, in Sarasota, FL. She was 85. Nicholson traveled extensively with her husband, living in The Hague, the Netherlands; and Brussels, Belgium, before settling permanently in Sarasota. She is survived by her husband, Edward W. S. Nicholson, SB'34; two sons; and three grandchildren. Malcolm L. Smith, AM'34, died February 12, 2000, in Washington, DC, at age 88. After working as a statistician with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Smith moved to Washington, DC, and began his career in personnel management for the Navy. He retired in 1975 as director of manpower management for Naval Material Command, receiving the Secretary of the Navy's Distinguished Civilian Service Award. Smith was a 52-year member of the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington and served on the board of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations. Survivors include a daughter, a sister, three brothers, and two grandchildren. S. Kirson Weinberg, AB'34, AM'35, PhD'42, an authority on social problems and mental illness, died February 23 in Chicago. He was 88. Weinberg's 1955 Incest Behavior was the first definitive sociological study on this subject and created a forum for victims, clinicians, and policy makers to address the problem. He also wrote books and articles on the nature of friendship, crime victims, and the sociology of mental disorders. After studying schizophrenia and delinquency in Ghana, Weinberg joined Roosevelt University as chair of the sociology and anthropology departments and later held teaching posts at University of California-Berkeley and the University of Minnesota before joining the sociology faculty at Loyola University in Chicago. He is survived by his wife, Rita Mohr Weinberg, AM'47, PhD'55; a daughter, Carol R. Weinberg, AB'73; two sons, including Douglas D. Weinberg, JD'93; a sister, Fannie Weinberg Press, PhB'31; and six grandchildren. Helen Kotas Hirsch, AB'36, a musician, died December 15 in Chicago at age 84. From 1941 to 1947 Hirsch played principal French horn in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as the first woman to hold that position in a major American orchestra. She held the same position with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra from 1950 to 1958 and in the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1954 to 1959. Retiring in 1965, she taught at the American and Sherwood Conservatories of Music and served the Hyde Park community as the treasurer of the Hyde Park Union Church and in the women's philanthropy organization. She is survived by her stepdaughters, Helen Hirsch Kent, AB'43 and Jean Hirsch Priest, PhB'47, SB'50, MD'53. Robert L. Brackenbury, AB'39, AM'39, PhD'48, a retired professor, died February 7 in Des Moines, IA. He was 83. After serving as a lieutenant in the Navy in WWII, he joined the faculty at University of Southern California's School of Education where he taught for 30 years, chairing the department of social and philosophical foundations and serving as president of the Far Western Philosophy of Education Society. He is survived by his wife, Opal; three daughters; and four grandchildren. Betty Grace Press, AB'39, a retired teacher, died September 25 in Lincolnshire, IL. She was 82. After years of homemaking and volunteering, Press earned her master's degree at Northeastern Illinois University and taught English at Maine Township High School East from the mid-1960s until her 1983 retirement. Survivors include five daughters, including Barbara Press Turner, AM'66, and Marjorie Press Linblom, JD'78; a sister, Carolyn Grace Brinkerhoff, AB'45; and 14 grandchildren. 1940s and 1950s Barbara Crane Gibson, AB'40, a homemaker and volunteer, died May 24, 2000, in Madison, WI, at age 82. A longtime member of the American Association of University Women, Gibson helped raise funds for college scholarships for women. She volunteered for public schools and libraries and led Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops. She is survived by a daughter; a son; a brother, Ronald F. Crane, AB'42, AM'47; and two grandchildren. Janet Bashen Switzer, X'41, a homemaker, died December 10 in Chicago. She was 82. Switzer taught piano and performed recitals with the Glen Ellyn Musicians Club. A lover of books, nature, and music, she continued to enjoy her crafts and hobbies after suffering a brain tumor in 1950 that led to the deterioration of her sight. She is survived by a son, a stepdaughter, a stepson, a brother, a sister, and ten grandchildren. Robert A. Whitmore, PhD'44, a retired research director, died February 3 in Riverside, CA, at age 88. For over 30 years Whitmore worked for the FMC Citrus Division in Riverside, helping break Japanese trade barriers against California citrus products and developing patented devices and techniques for food processing. After retiring in 1977 he served seven years in the Office on Aging in Eureka, CA, and worked to draft bills to improve medical delivery to seniors. He is survived by four daughters, a son, three brothers, two sisters, and nine grandchildren. Minnie Redmond Bowles Johnson, AM'45, a librarian, died January 29 in Evanston, IL. She was 90. Johnson, a former public school teacher, was a librarian at Chicago Teachers College and at Fisk University. She belonged to the American Library Association, the Chicago Library Association, the American Association of University Professors, and the American Association of University Women. Julia Lipow Dubin, AM'47, a social worker, died January 1 in Deerfield, IL. She was 91. Dubin worked for Chicago's Department of Welfare and the American Public Welfare Association (APWA), retiring in 1971 as director for the APWA's on Aging. She is survived by a sister-in-law, Elisabeth Ruch Dubin, AB'37, AM'39, PhD'46, and a brother-in-law, Robert Dubin, AB'36, AM'40, PhD'47. Aaron M. Boom, PhD'48, a retired professor of history, died August 26 in Memphis, TN. He was 81. After serving in the Navy during WWII, Boom earned his doctorate at Chicago and joined the University of Memphis faculty in 1949, where he remained until his retirement in 1983, chairing the history department for 18 years and serving as president of the West Tennessee Historical Society. Survivors include his wife, Kathleen Williams Boom, PhD'49; two sons; and five step-grandchildren. Ben C. Bowman, BLS'48, a retired librarian, died February 1 in Topsham, ME, at age 88. Bowman worked at the Newberry Library in Chicago for 16 years before directing libraries at the University of Vermont, Hunter College, and the University of Rochester. Retiring in 1976 to Maine, Bowman maintained his professional interests with the Rockport Friends of the Library and the Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations. He is survived by his wife, Marion. Arthur W. Hummel Jr., AM'49, a former ambassador, died February 6 in Chevy Chase, MD. He was 80. Hummel negotiated a 1982 agreement on United States arms sales to Taiwan that smoothed relations between United States and China and allowed the U.S. to continue supplying F-5E fighter planes to Taiwan as obligated by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. Joining the Foreign Service in 1950, he served as U.S. ambassador to Burma and to Ethiopia in 1975. In 1976 he was named assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific. Survivors include his wife, Betty Lou; two sons; a brother; and three grandchildren. William A. Beardslee, PhD'51, a Biblical scholar and theologian, died January 25 in Claremont, CA. He was 84. Beardslee taught the Bible and religion at Emory University where he also held several administrative posts, including director of the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts and acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A founder of literary criticism of the New Testament, Beardslee worked as a member of the Revised Standard Version Bible Committee of the National Council of Churches and editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion and Semeia. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia; a son; three stepsons; a stepdaughter; two brothers; two sisters; and 12 grandchildren. Gene H. Borowitz, PhB'51, a psychiatrist, died October 3 in Chicago. He was 71. Borowitz, who taught at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (1959-1987), was also a consultant to the MacArthur Foundation and helped develop its system of awarding fellowships known as "genius grants." He is survived by his wife, Selma Shore Borowitz, AB'50, and a son, Michael J. Borowitz, AM'88, PhD'93. John B. Urner, PhD'58, an urban planner, died October 13 in South Africa at age 70. Urner headed national planning projects in Libya and Bangladesh and primary-education projects in Bhutan and Lesotho. In Egypt he monitored development projects of international agencies on behalf of the Egyptian government, and in the Philippines he helped develop provincial road networks and planning capacity. He is survived by his wife, Carol; a daughter; a son; and a granddaughter. 1960s to Current Ann Marie Schwartz Kazee, AB'76, an assistant professor and director of neuropathology at SUNY Medical Center, died February 1, 2000. She was 45. Survivors include her husband, Jerry; a daughter; two sons; and a stepdaughter. L. Francis Stella, MBA'76, died June 4, 2000, of colon cancer in Greensboro, NC, at age 65. Stella worked for International Harvester in Chicago and retired from Volvo Truck in Greensboro, NC, in 1993. He also taught business at the Guilford Technical Community College in Greensboro. Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; two daughters; and two grandchildren. Karen A. Sorensen, MBA'88, died February 22 in Skokie, IL. She was 47. A health management consultant since 1985, Sorensen was the president of her own company, Sorensen Consulting & Development Company, and she frequently spoke and wrote on national and international health services management issues. Survivors include her mother and a sister.