Deaths
Note: In the April/02 Magazine, an editing error resulted in the omission of information about alumni survivors. Radiology professor Lawrence H. Lanzl is survived by his wife, Elisabeth. Roger L. Shapiro, SB'47, MD'49, is survived by his wife, Dina Kostun. Keith Kavanaugh, AM'48, PhD'54, is survived by his wife, Virginia. Herbert B. Fried, JD'32, is survived by his brother, Jeffrey Fried, X'36. Mary Wakefield Spencer, AM'32, is survived by a brother, William E. Wakefield, PhB'34. Lewis G. Groebe, AB'34, JD'35, is survived by a brother, Wilbur R. Groebe, X'37. Melvin M. Newman, SB'42, MD'44, is survived by a sister, Muriel Newman Roston, PhB'44, AM'50. Burton W. Kanter, AB'51, JD'52, is survived by a son, Joshua S. Kanter, JD'87. David A. Wexler, AB'67, PhD'71, is survived by a sister, Amy Wexler Orum, AM'65.

FACULTY AND STAFF
Ralph M. Buchsbaum, SB'28, PhD'32, an influential biologist, died February 11. He was 95. Buchsbaum taught at Chicago from 1931 to 1951, winning the 1939 Quantrell Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. While researching mammalian tissue culture, he pioneered methods to observe cell organelles and wrote widely used textbooks, including Animals without Backbones and Basic Ecology, the first ecology text for nonspecialists. As a Fulbright scholar in Bangkok in 1963, he helped develop biology curricula there. He is survived by a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren.

Martin B. Mathews, SB'36, SM'41, PhD'49, professor emeritus in pediatrics and biochemistry, died February 6. He was 89. Mathews was a U.S. Army captain in the Philippines during WW II. In his 28 years on the U of C faculty, he studied connective tissue and the evolution of collagen molecules, research that contributed to the understanding of tissue repair, remodeling, and development. He was also interested in art and philosophy. He is survived by his wife, Alma; a daughter; a son; and three grandchildren.

Norman J. Cutler, PhD'80, associate professor and chair of South Asian languages & literatures, died February 26 after a long illness. He was 52. A career-long Chicagoan, Cutler studied Tamil, a south Indian language with an ancient literary history. Authoring and editing books on the subject, Cutler was among the first to bring Tamil works to the academic world's attention. Cutler was known for his poetic translations and his dedication to teaching from primary sources. He is survived by his life partner, Marshall; his mother; and a sister.

Peter Meyer, professor emeritus in physics and former director of the Enrico Fermi Institute, died March 7. He was 82. Meyer began teaching at Chicago in 1956 and soon after began his influential research on cosmic rays with colleague John Simpson. In 1971 he won the Quantrell Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. From 1978 to 1983 Meyer directed the Fermi Institute and in the mid-1980s helped launch an egg-shaped cosmic-ray detector on the space shuttle Challenger. From 1986 to 1989 he chaired the physics department. Survivors include his wife, Patricia G. Spear, PhD'69; two sons; a brother; a sister; and two grandchildren.

TRUSTEES
Joseph S. Wright, retired board chair of Zenith Electronics Corporation, died March 11. He was 90. Wright joined Zenith in 1952, becoming president in 1959 and CEO in 1964. He chaired the board from 1968 to 1976, when he retired and became chair of the board's executive committee. He was a University trustee from 1966 until 1981, when he was elected a life trustee, and he served on Crerar Library's Visiting Committee. Active in global trade matters, Wright was a founding member of the Electronics Industry Committee for Fair International Trade. He is survived by his wife, Jane; a son; and three grandchildren, including Elisabeth Wright Williams, MBA'96.

1920s
Helen Palmer Sonderby, PhB'27, a psychologist and writer, died February 23 in Hyde Park. She was 96. Sonderby was a social worker, a psychologist with the Illinois Department of Corrections, and a worker at the Chicago Reed Mental Health Center. In the past decade Sonderby wrote poetry and traveled extensively. Survivors include her husband, Max E. Sonderby, PhB'30; two daughters; a son; two stepsons; a brother; a sister; and eight grandchildren, including Christopher P. Sonderby, JD'93.

1930s
Irma Frantz Watson, PhB'30, a former Chicago public school teacher, died February 20 in Hot Springs Village, AR. She was 93. In retirement she joined the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution as a charter member of the Cuernavaca, Mexico, chapter and a founding member of the Akansa, AR, chapter. Watson was honored by the Arkansas Commission on National and Community Service. An avid traveler, Watson enjoyed an Alaskan cruise and several weeks in Mexico in the past year. She is survived by two sons.

Edward G. Bastian, PhB'31, a professor in social science, humanities, and history, died December 20. He was 91. After studying at Chicago and at the Sorbonne in Paris, Bastian joined the air force, serving in WW II. He taught on the Chicago faculty from 1946 to 1956, spending the remainder of his career at Earlham College. He is survived by his wife, Carol Emery Bastian, AB'50; a daughter; and two sons, including Timothy S. Bastian, SB'78.

Emily Wolff Sereno, PhB'33, AM'43, died December 9 in Washington, DC. She was 90. After working for the Cook County Department of Public Assistance, she moved to Washington, worked at two children's hospitals, and then transferred to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. She is survived by a daughter; a son, Julian D. Sereno, AB'72; and two grandchildren.

James K. Mulligan, PhB'34, AM'37, died January 5, 2001, in Bethesda, MD. He was 89. Mulligan worked for the Chicago Parks District, the National Youth Administration, and the Office of Price Administration. A Navy lieutenant during WW II, he then served as the chief of wage classification for the Navy Department for the New England, Atlantic, and Mediterranean areas. He joined the Civil Service Commission in 1957, retiring as director of training. In retirement Mulligan worked as a personnel consultant with the United Nations, the Department of State, and the Pan American Health Organization in Europe, South America, Asia, and the Caribbean. He is survived by his wife, Louise, and a brother, Donald W. Mulligan, PhB'47, AM'50.

Bernard Sang, PhB'34, JD'35, attorney and leader in Chicago's Jewish community, died March 15. He was 89. Sang practiced corporate, commercial, and estate-planning law for more than 60 years. A founder and the second president of the National Federation of Temple Youth, Sang was also a director of the National Board of the Union of Hebrew Congregations and a director of the national executive board of the American Jewish Committee. He is survived by his wife, Elaine; a daughter; a son, George E. Sang, JD'73; and three grandchildren.

Norman W. Masterson, AB'36, of Long Beach, CA, died January 5. He was 87. Active in track and field and in University Theater at Chicago, Masterson was president of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He worked in radio and later in commercial and industrial real estate. He is survived by a son and a granddaughter.

Norman R. Davidson, SB'37, PhD'41, a biologist whose work led to the earliest understanding of the genome, died February 14. He was 85. During WW II Davidson worked for the National Defense Research Committee Project and for the Division of War Research at the U of C and at Columbia University. In 1946 he joined the California Institute of Technology, becoming professor emeritus in 1986. Davidson developed methods in physical chemistry and electron microscopy used in genetic mapping and in exploring DNA and RNA properties. In 1996 he was awarded the National Medal of Science for establishing the principle of nucleic acid renaturation, which is essential in deciphering genetic structure and function. Survivors include his wife, Annemarie; two daughters; two sons; and eight grandchildren.

James H. Hayner, SB'39, a retired U.S. Steel superintendent, died January 25. He was 84. He started his career at U.S. Steel's South Chicago branch. In the 1960s Hayner ran programs to help children develop, market, and sell products at a citywide fair. In retirement Hayner dabbled in real estate. He is survived by a son; two stepdaughters; two grandsons; and four stepgrandchildren.

Laurence E. Leamer, AB'39, AM'39, PhD'50, former professor in economics, died November 16. He was 88. After teaching at Chicago from 1940 to 1951, Leamer taught at the University of Colorado and Haile Selasie University in Ethiopia. Retiring as a professor emeritus from SUNY Binghamton in 1975, Leamer researched and wrote his family history. He is survived by his wife, Helen Burkey Leamer, AB'39; three sons; and six grandchildren, including Stephen Leamer, '03.

Betty Hurwich Zoss, AB'39, photographer and writer, died February 2. She was 83. Zoss lived much of her life in Martha's Vineyard, MA, and Berkeley Heights, NJ. Survivors include three children, including Joel R. Zoss, AB'66, and Roger M. Zoss, AB'69, and three grandchildren.

1940s
Walter J. Rockler, AB'40, an activist and lawyer, died March 8. He was 81. While studying law at Harvard, Rockler enlisted in the Navy and was sent to work in the courthouse at Nuremberg where he met his future wife, Aino. He later worked as an attorney in Chicago and Washington, DC, and in the 1970s he headed a Justice Department investigation of people living in the United States who were suspected Nazi war criminals. In the same decade he joined the legal team that acquitted the Wilmington 10, nine black men and a white woman charged with firebombing a store during a week of racial violence in Wilmington, NC, who insisted that they were framed. He is survived by a daughter, three sons, a brother, and nine grandchildren.

A. Douglas Tushingham, DB'41, PhD'48, an archaeologist, died February 27. He was 89. After teaching in the Divinity School (1948-1950), Tushingham joined the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem and became its director in 1953. From 1951 to 1967 he excavated in Jordan, Transjordan, and Israel, working on the New Testament sites in Jericho. For 26 years Tushingham was chief archaeologist of the Royal Ontario Museum. He also researched the Crown Jewels of Iran, presenting his book on the subject to the Shah and Shahbanu. After retiring, he toured Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Tunisia, Crete, and the United Kingdom. He is survived by his wife, Margaret.

Jeanne Scharbau Bex, SB'42, of Upper Allen Township, PA, died September 3. She was 81. Bex was a member of a number of organizations including Phi Beta Kappa and Chi Rho Sigma, the Anthroposophical Society in America, the Graphoanalysis Society of Chicago, the Rudolph Steiner Fellowship Foundation, and the Library of New York. She is survived by her husband, John E. Bex, X'41; a son; a brother; and three grandchildren.

Meyer ("Mike") Weinberg, AB'42, AM'45, an author, editor, civil-rights activist and college professor, died February 28. He was 81. After working at a local Dodge plant building B-29 aircraft engines during WW II, he taught history at Wright Junior College in Chicago. Weinberg founded Teachers for Integrated Schools in Chicago in 1962, edited the journal Integrated Education, and wrote 18 books on the subject. From 1963 to 1967 he chaired the education committee of the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, and from 1972 to 1978 he directed Northwestern University's Center for Equal Education. In the 1990s he held similar positions at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and California State University-Long Beach. Survivors include his wife, Erica Muller Weinberg, AB'43, AM'45; three sons, including Benjamin C. Weinberg, AB'86; and six grandchildren.

Conrad L. Bergendoff, AM'48, died January 22. He was 77. Bergendoff earned his master's degree in international studies before attending the London School of Economics as a 1949-50 Fulbright fellow. Ordained a minister in the United Lutheran Church in 1948, Bergendoff served congregations in several states. From 1952 to 1956 he was an assistant professor of history and political science at St. Olaf College, authoring two books and several monographs on history and politics. From 1956 to 1957 Bergendoff worked for UNICEF. Survivors include a son; two sisters; and three grandchildren.

Aaron M. Johnston, PhD'48, died February 9. He was 86. An elementary school teacher and principal before serving in the army during WW II, Johnston taught in the education department at the University of Tennessee for 32 years and was the author of two books. Johnston served four terms on the vestry of his local Episcopal church. Survivors include his wife, Pauline; a daughter; three sons; a brother; a sister; and seven grandchildren.

1950s
Miles E. Cunat Jr., JD'56, an attorney and dedicated volunteer, died February 4. He was 72. Cunat was a staff lawyer for the Pullman Co. and the Belt Railway Co. before joining Chicago Title and Trust in the 1960s. An active resident of Riverside Township, IL, Cunat served in local Republican organizations, the planning commission, and the zoning board. He was a charter member and elder of First Presbyterian Church of Brookfield and a trustee of the Presbytery of Chicago, serving as treasurer from 1978 to 1981. He is survived by his wife, Rita; two sons; four stepchildren; and six grandchildren.

Lee A. Rubens, AM'57, died October 21. He was 71. After serving in the army during the Korean War, Rubens returned to his native Wisconsin and worked as a civil servant. In 1972 he was appointed chief probation and parole officer; maintaining a progressive stance on rehabilitation, he held the position until his retirement in 1984. He is survived by his wife, Joan; three daughters; three sons; a brother; two sisters; and four grandchildren.

1960s
Irving Kupfermann, PhD'64, a scholar of animal nervous systems and behaviors and a physiology, cellular biophysics, and psychiatry professor at Columbia University, died February 19. He was 64. Having studied learning and memory mechanisms at Harvard and New York University in the 1960s, Kupfermann delineated the connections in the neural circuit that trigger a simple defensive reflex. His research helped create the new science of cellular neurobiology in behavior and learning. In 1970 Kupfermann began his study of how individual neuron activities can change an animal's emotional state. He is survived by his wife, Kerstin; a daughter; a son; and a grandson.

Ronald E. Becht, AM'67, an administrator at Cabrini College in Radnor, PA, and an expert on 19th-century British literature, died on March 5 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 57. Becht taught at Marquette University, the University of Connecticut, and Carnegie Mellon University. After serving in administrative roles for several years, Becht became the vice president of graduate and professional studies at Cabrini College. Survivors include his wife, Sherry; a daughter; and two sons.

1980s
Elizabeth A. Rogers, AB'87, JD'90, a lawyer and athlete, died February 26 of a massive pulmonary embolism. She was 35. A partner in the law firm Ackermann, Link and Sartory in West Palm Beach, FL, she was a member of the Florida and Illinois bars. A master diver and triathlete, Rogers was a nationally ranked judo champion, receiving medals at the 2000 International Judo Cup and 2001 U.S. Judo Cup championships. An active supporter of women's issues and environmental conservation, she is survived by her husband, Thomas A. Layon; two stepdaughters; her parents; and her sister, Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, AB'91.

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