Faculty and staff

Lester G. Telser, AM’53, PhD’56, professor emeritus in economics and the College, died September 3 in Chicago. He was 91. Telser grew up in Chicago during the Great Depression, a period that influenced his decision to study economics. After completing his dissertation under Milton Friedman, AM’33, he joined the UChicago faculty in 1958. Telser is best known for his pioneering work on core theory—a variant of game theory that involves groups of people, as opposed to individuals, working cooperatively to maximize their advantage. He also studied futures and forward markets as well as industrial organization. A generous teacher, Telser supervised more than 150 dissertation projects. He lived most of life in Hyde Park and was a classical music lover. He is survived by a daughter, Tamar Schwartz, LAB’79; a son, Joshua Telser, LAB’75; a brother, Alvin Telser, SB’61, PhD’68; and two grandchildren.

Janel M. Mueller, the William Rainey Harper Professor Emerita in English Language and Literature and former dean of the Humanities Division, died October 21 in Chicago. She was 83. Mueller joined the UChicago faculty in 1967. Over nearly four decades, she made her mark as a respected scholar, mentor, and administrator who became the first woman to serve as dean of a University division. Mueller’s research focused on 16th-century English vernacular and translation, the poetry of John Donne and John Milton, and a range of English Reformation texts and topics. She edited or coedited landmark editions of the writings of Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Katherine Parr, and John Donne. Among her many honors, Mueller won a 1982 Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and a 1998 Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring. Two eponymous UChicago awards recognize her contributions: the Humanities Division’s Janel M. Mueller Award for Excellence in Pedagogy and the English department’s Janel Mueller Thesis Prize. Mueller’s husband, Ian B. Mueller, professor emeritus in philosophy, died in 2010. She is survived by her partner, Kenneth Johnston; two daughters, Maria Mueller, LAB’80, and Monica West, LAB’83; and two grandchildren.

1940s

Ruth Park Berkowitz, PhB’45, of Utica, NY, died November 3. She was 99. For many years, Berkowitz was a primary school teacher in the Utica City School District. A lover of the fine arts, theater, literature, and cinema, she served as a docent at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute. She is survived by two daughters, two sons, 10 grandchildren, and 31 great-grandchildren.

Mary Hortatsos, AB’45, of Chicago, died October 28. She was 96. Hortatsos was a passionate artist and musician, lifelong student, and devoted volunteer at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Architecture Center. She had a successful career in public relations and was listed in Who’s Who of American Women. Survivors include a sister.

Everett E. Gendler, AB’48, died April 1 in Sarasota, FL. He was 93. A lifelong advocate of nonviolence and Jewish environmentalism, as a rabbi Gendler was known for encouraging American Jews to participate in the civil rights movement. He also wrote and lectured extensively on the Jewish duty to preserve the earth. Gendler studied philosophy and social work as a first-generation student in the College. Following his ordination in 1957, he served congregations in Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, and Princeton, NJ. As his commitment to activism grew, Gendler marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, where he, King, and 10 other rabbis were jailed for “public prayer without a license.” In 1971 he became rabbi at Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley in Lowell, MA, and in 1976 started work as the first Jewish chaplain at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, roles he held until his retirement in 1995. Relocating to Sarasota, he and his wife, Mary, traveled frequently to Dharamshala, India, where they helped establish a center that supports education on strategic nonviolent struggle for Tibetan exiles. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, a sister, and five grandchildren, including Alida Camper, Class of 2026.

Lee C. Teng, SM’48, PhD’51, of Elmhurst, IL, died June 24. He was 95. A theoretical physicist, Teng contributed to particle accelerator–based projects around the globe. Born in Beijing, he studied physics at what is now Fu Jen Catholic University before immigrating to the United States in 1947. After completing his doctorate in physics—with a dissertation committee that included Enrico Fermi—Teng held academic positions at the University of Minnesota and Wichita State University. He was soon recruited to Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab, where he led an array of scientific projects. Teng served as the inaugural director of Taiwan’s National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center; he also contributed to the design and operation of the zero-gradient synchrotron and Advanced Photon Source at Argonne, the entire accelerator complex at Fermilab, and the world’s first hospital-based proton therapy machine at Loma Linda University. A fellow of the American Physical Society, Teng received the society’s Robert Wilson Prize in 2007. An undergraduate internship program at Fermilab and Argonne named for Teng honors his contributions to accelerator science and engineering. Survivors include his wife, Nancy Lai-Shen Teng, AM’64; a son; and a grandchild.

Charles C. Norcross Jr., AB’49, MBA’52, of Oakland, CA, died June 30. He was 93. After attending Chicago public schools and the University, Norcross served on active duty in the Marine Corps. For 28 years, including four years in Asia and two in Europe, he worked as an auditor for the US Department of the Navy and was later an auditor and accountant for the East Bay Regional Park District. Norcross and his wife, Mary, were fans of Oakland A’s baseball, opera, and travel; he was also a weight lifter and gardener who studied French and German into his 80s. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, a stepdaughter, a stepson, and two grandchildren.

Juanita Benson, AB’49, of Livermore, CA, died April 16. She was 91. After earning a master’s degree in mathematics from Hayward State College, Benson worked as a computer programmer at Sandia Laboratories for 27 years. In retirement she took pleasure in reading, being active outdoors, spending time with family, and participating in her church. She is survived by three daughters, one son, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

John Lee Westrate, AM’49, PhD’63, of Wayne, PA, died October 22. He was 100. During World War II, Westrate was an officer in the US Army Air Corps; he later worked in security and intelligence for the US Naval Air Forces. With his doctorate in political science—and dissertation on Herbert Hoover—he taught at four universities. Westrate served as a White House science adviser to five presidents and as a CEO and chair for the National Housing Corporation. He and his late wife, Judith, were active in the National Presbyterian Church. He is survived by two stepsons, three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

1950s

Helen Bloch Birenbaum, AB’50, died September 16 in Brooklyn Heights, NY. She was 91. Birenbaum dedicated her academic career to studying the use of computer technology in education, especially as a means of achieving economic parity. In 1988 she founded and directed the Stanton/Heiskell Center for Public Policy in Telecommunications and Information Systems, City University of New York Graduate Center. For many years she served on the board of the Women’s City Club of New York/Women Creating Change and as a consultant to the New York City Partnership (Higher Education). She established a collection at the Library for the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, to document the career of her husband, William M. Birenbaum, JD’49, a former dean of students at UChicago who died in 2010. She is survived by a daughter, a son, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Doris Jane Sommer-Rotenberg, AM’50, of Toronto, died April 21, 2020. She was 93. A graduate of the history of culture program in the Humanities Division, Sommer-Rotenberg was a writer, poet, and jewelry designer. In 1997 she initiated a campaign to establish an endowed research chair in suicide studies at the University of Toronto, the first of its kind in North America. The position honored her son, Arthur Sommer Rotenberg, a physician who died by suicide after struggling with bipolar disorder. The Canadian government recognized her with a meritorious service medal in 2016. Survivors include three daughters and four grandchildren.

Leon “Lee” Warshay, AM’51, died September 18 in Royal Oak, MI. He was 94. The son of two Hebrew school–teachers, Warshay was 5 when his father, an ardent Zionist, moved the family from Cleveland to Israel. After his father died unexpectedly, the family settled in New York, where Warshay attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush and Brooklyn College. With graduate degrees in sociology from UChicago and the University of Minnesota, he taught for 45 years at Wayne State University. Warshay published two books and many articles, served as president of the Detroit Zionist Federation, and loved baseball, corny puns, and old-time Jewish jokes. He is survived by his wife, Diana; two sons; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Erl Dordal, AB’52, MD’56, of Mars, PA, died May 11. He was 94. Dordal was the valedictorian of his high school class in Larimore, ND. He came to the University to study physics and ended up attending medical school. A gastroenterologist, Dordal served on the faculty at UChicago and Northwestern University before becoming chief of the medical service at Chicago’s Columbus-Cuneo-Cabrini Medical Center in 1976. In retirement he studied Egyptology, worked as a docent at the Oriental Institute Museum, and tutored in a Hyde Park adult literacy program. His first wife, Mildred Reinke Dordal, AM’53, died in 2001, and his second wife, Dorothy Powers, SM’52, died in 2021. He is survived by two daughters; two sons, including Peter Dordal, SM’78; a stepdaughter; a stepson; 10 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Herbert F. Wass, AM’56, died October 24 in Oak Bluffs, MA. He was 90. Born in Indiana and educated at Earlham College, Wass worked as a journalist before studying economics at UChicago. He taught economics at what is now Muskingum University, the City College of New York, and the University of Vermont. From 1968 until his retirement in 1995, he served as vice president and secretary of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Wass was active in Topsfield, MA, civic life and in the arts community on Martha’s Vineyard, the site of his family’s cottage. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; two daughters; a sister; and four grandchildren.

Irving C. Carrig, AM’58, of Chicago, died August 31. He was 89. Carrig earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Notre Dame before studying political science at UChicago. He taught political philosophy and political science at several colleges, then learned computer programming in the 1970s. Working at the Illinois Department of Employment Security until his retirement, he developed the first automated unemployment benefits system. A longtime Hyde Park resident, Carrig enjoyed hiking, bird-watching, theater, and travel. He is survived by his wife, Camille J. Carrig, AM’71; three daughters, including Therese Kristensen, AB’84; two sons; 10 grandchildren, including Kathleen R. Kristensen, AB’18, and Tom C. Kristensen, AB’21; and two great-grandchildren.

Challes Moser Donaho, AM’59, of San Antonio, died October 13. She was 86. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Donaho taught English at several community colleges, including San Antonio College. Her great loves in life included her family, friends, literature, and traveling, especially in England. An active member of Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, Donaho served as a Stephen Minister and Bible study teacher. She is survived by her stepdaughter, nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great-grandchildren.

Sara Horne Harrington, AM’59, of Homewood, IL, died October 25. She was 92. Born in Georgia, Harrington graduated from Emory University as a registered nurse. Relocating to Chicago to study in the Social Sciences Division and teach pediatric nursing, she then settled with her family in Homewood in the mid-1960s. Her husband, Edward L. Harrington, SM’51, died in 2004. She is survived by four sons and six grandchildren.

1960s

Carl Dolnick, SB’60, SM’62, PhD’70, of Chicago, died August 28. He was 83. With three degrees in physics, Dolnick devoted much of his professional life to the field, working first at Fermilab and then at Argonne National Laboratory. His experience with computers led him to serve as an information technology consultant for several financial institutions. A lifelong learner in the sciences, Dolnick was also an artist whose paintings delighted friends and family. Survivors include his wife, Patricia Fay, and a brother.

Harlan R. Gephart, MD’61, of Woodinville, WA, died May 15. He was 86. A pediatrician, Gephart was an early proponent of providing mental health services in pediatric primary care. He pioneered the specialty of treating children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, authoring a book on the subject. Active with the American Board of Pediatrics, he served on its board of directors from 1996 to 2002 and was emeritus clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington Medical School. Survivors include his wife, Kathy.

Anthony Gottlieb, MD’61, died June 23 in Denver. He was 86. After attending what is now the Pritzker School of Medicine and completing his internship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Gottlieb served for two years as a medical officer in the US Army, stationed in Japan. He then completed his residency in psychiatry and moved to Denver, where he practiced for more than 45 years. He is survived by his wife, Katy Dealy; three children; a brother, Paul Gottlieb, MBA’73; and four grandchildren.

Evelyn Marsh, LAB’61, AB’66, of Chicago, died August 1. She was 78. The daughter of refugees from Nazi Germany, Marsh grew up in Hyde Park and attended the Laboratory Schools, where she met her future husband, Gerald Marsh, SB’62, SM’65. With her philosophy degree, she worked as a systems analyst in the nascent computing industry. She also played the violin in chamber groups. In her 50s—after helping build a database for war crimes in Bosnia at DePaul University’s International Human Rights Law Institute—Marsh decided to go to law school. She successfully represented many asylum seekers as an immigration lawyer and was admitted to the Bar of the US Supreme Court in 2013. She is survived by her husband; sons Adam Marsh, LAB’85, and Loren Marsh, LAB’87; a sister; and three grandchildren.

Charles G. Staples, AM’61, died August 16 in Chicago. He was 92. A resident of Hyde Park for six decades and longtime member of the First Unitarian Church of Chicago, Staples was active in several civic organizations. After studying fine arts at Marlboro College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he completed a master’s degree in social work and embarked on a 25-year career with the Chicago Public Schools. In the 1960s and ’70s, Staples led a successful campaign to save the city’s historic central library building—now the home of the Chicago Cultural Center—from demolition. He later served as a volunteer greeter and tour docent in the preserved building, and in 2017 he was recognized for his preservation efforts by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs as well as Landmarks Illinois. Staples also volunteered with the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization and enjoyed classical music, hiking, and travel. Survivors include his wife, Joan.

Ira J. Fistell, LAB’58, AB’62, JD’64, died September 26 in Bala Cynwyd, PA. He was 81. Fistell pursued a successful career in radio broadcasting, working as an on-air personality in Madison, WI, and then at KABC in Los Angeles for more than two decades. He also worked for three years at the national Talk America Radio Network and edited the LA Jewish News for a year. In addition to educating his listeners, he taught at the University of Phoenix and Concord Prep High School in Santa Monica, CA. Survivors include his partner, Rachel Berg, LAB’58, AB’62, AM’63, PhD’72, and a daughter.

George A. Drake, DB’62, AM’63, PhD’65, died October 15 in Grinnell, IA. He was 88. A graduate of Grinnell College, Drake was the school’s first alumnus president, serving from 1979 to 1991. After studying in Paris and Oxford during the late 1950s as a Fulbright and Rhodes Scholar, respectively, Drake came to Chicago to pursue a seminary degree and ended up getting a doctorate in church history at UChicago. He taught at Colorado College before returning to Grinnell as a trustee, president, and professor. He and his wife, Sue, joined the Peace Corps in Lesotho after his presidency, and in 1993, Drake returned to Grinnell and taught history for a decade. In retirement he taught in the school’s Liberal Arts in Prison Program at Newton Correctional Facility and volunteered with local community organizations. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, a son, and six grandchildren.

Richard L. Hoard, MBA’63, of Madison, WI, died October 24. He was 86. After earning an undergraduate degree in engineering, Hoard pursued a career in business and lived in Illinois, Kansas, and New Jersey with his family. Retiring first to Charlotte, NC, he volunteered for 20 years at Roof Above, an organization focused on ending homelessness. Hoard and his wife, Sandy, moved to Wisconsin in 2020. He is survived by his wife, three daughters, a son, a brother, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

George F. Voris III, MBA’63, died in New Canaan, CT, on October 15. He was 83. Born on the South Side of Chicago, Voris studied the great books as an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame. He attended Chicago Booth before serving in South Korea as a US Army intelligence officer. A political appointment brought him to Washington, DC, where he worked in government and later launched a career in commercial real estate. A lover of books, art, geography, and maps, Voris also enjoyed sports. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; a daughter; a son; a sister; three brothers; and five grandchildren.

Margaret Gallwey Farrell, JD’64, of Washington, DC, died October 10. She was 83. With her BA in government from Cornell, Farrell began law school at Yale University before graduating from the UChicago Law School. She was a member of the Washington, DC, Bar Association for 53 years and was active in the community of Somerset, MD. She lived, worked, and traveled in more than 50 countries around the world. Highlights of Farrell’s legal career included working with Covington and Burling and the Mental Health Law Project, serving as a US Supreme Court Fellow and a special master in a federal case, and teaching law at Yale, the University of Virginia, Yeshiva University, Widener University, and American University. She is survived by two daughters, two sons, a sister, and five grandchildren.

E. Graham Evans Jr., SM’65, PhD’69, of Urbana, IL, died March 20, 2021. He was 78. For more than 30 years, Evans taught mathematics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, focusing his research on commutative rings and the study of free resolutions of modules. He served as managing editor of the Illinois Journal of Mathematics and director of undergraduate studies in the math department, receiving campus awards for excellence in teaching and advising. Evans enjoyed travel and cooking meals for his family, friends, and students. He is survived by two sons, a sister, and a grandchild.

Judy Victoria Jones, AM’65, died February 20, 2022, in Norwich, England. She was 80. Born in Venezuela, she earned her bachelor’s degree at Western College for Women in Ohio. While pursuing graduate studies in English literature, Jones met Eric Homberger, AM’65. They wed two years later in New York City, while she was working in the publicity department at Alfred A. Knopf, and moved to England. At the University of Cambridge Jones worked in the English Faculty Library, where she discovered an unpublished manuscript by Sylvia Plath. The couple settled in Norwich in 1970. She is survived by her husband, three children, and eight grandchildren.

Marcia Earlenbaugh, AB’66, of Colorado Springs, CO, died October 23. She was 78. Earlenbaugh loved to learn—about people, cultures, music, the natural world, metaphysics, actual physics, and more. A writer and artist, she was active on issues of human potential, equality, and environmentalism. Survivors include a daughter and a sister.

John Dale Apel, PhD’66, died November 15 in Lindsborg, KS. He was 93. Raised on Kansas farms, Apel returned to his native state after earning his PhD, continuing what would be more than a 45-year career with the 4-H Foundation and the Kansas State University Research and Extension 4-H Youth Development Program. In retirement Apel enjoyed doing genealogical research, attending the theater, supporting the Kansas City Chiefs, and participating in his church. Survivors include a daughter, two sons, and six grandchildren.

Robert L. Bayler, EX’67, of Elgin, IL, died July 19. He was 88. Bayler attended college and seminary in Pennsylvania and Missouri, where he and his wife, Lavon, studied together. After their ordination in the United Church of Christ, they accepted a copastorate of four churches in rural Ohio. Attending UChicago on a Rockefeller Fellowship, Bayler particularly enjoyed seminars held in the apartment of theologian Paul Tillich. He later became a teaching chaplain at Elgin State Hospital, worked for the Illinois Department of Mental Health, and served as chaplain and community relations representative at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, IL. A voracious reader, Bayler was also an artist, carpenter, and community volunteer. He is survived by his wife, three sons, a sister, a brother, and four grandchildren.

Nakho Sung, SM’67, of Lexington, MA, died October 22. He was 82. Sung was a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Tufts University for 35 years. With degrees from Seoul National University, UChicago, and MIT, he published more than 100 technical papers, edited a book, held multiple patents, and supervised dozens of students. A specialist in polymer science and engineering, Sung founded the Laboratory for Materials and Interfaces at Tufts and served as president of the Korean American Scientists and Engineers Association. His many honors include being elected to the Korean National Academy of Engineering and receiving South Korea’s National Medal of Honor in Science and Technology with highest distinction, the country’s greatest honor for individual scientists and engineers. He is survived by his wife, Chong Sook Paik Sung; a son; and two grandchildren.

1970s

Arthur Leon Beamon, JD’72, of Washington, DC, died February 10, 2022. He was 79. After earning his bachelor’s degree at the US Air Force Academy, Beamon completed a master’s degree in public administration at George Washington University in 1970. With his UChicago law degree, Beamon spent 27 years at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, serving as an attorney, head of the compliance and enforcement division, and associate general counsel. One of the proudest moments of his legal career was his admission to the Bar of the US Supreme Court. He and his wife, Joan, traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a brother.

Alan Russell Hinds, SM’72, died October 10 in Oak Park, IL. He was 79. Hinds worked as a computer scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, as a research programmer for the Computer Center and School of Public Health at the University of Illinois Chicago, and as a computer programmer for several local companies. He loved going to theater, music, and dance performances across the Chicago area. His wife, Lois Nyberg Hinds, AM’74, died in 2011. Hinds is survived by a daughter; two sons, including David Hinds, SB’88; and a granddaughter.

James Patrick Smith, PhD’72, died August 4 in Santa Monica, CA. He was 79. An economist, Smith published widely on topics including education, immigration, and wealth inequality. From 1974 to 2020, he served as a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, where he directed research on labor and population and held a distinguished chair in labor markets and demographic studies. He helped design the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to collect data aimed at advancing researchers’ understanding of the challenges and opportunities of aging. Smith chaired the HRS Data Monitoring Committee for 30 years and advised numerous HRS partner studies around the world. In 2020 he joined Rose Li and Associates as a senior research associate. His many awards include two honorary doctorates, election to the National Academy of Medicine, and two merit awards from the National Institutes of Health. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Berry; two daughters; and two grandchildren.

William Edmonds Keig, SM’73, PhD’82, died July 23 in Davenport, FL. He was 73. With his doctorate in physics, Keig taught physics, astrophysics, mathematics, and related topics at Lycoming College; California State University, Dominguez Hills; and Compton College. He also conducted research at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. Keig enjoyed taking his children and grandchildren to Disney movies, reading classic children’s tales aloud and butchering them hilariously, and watching sci-fi B movies while providing running commentary on how the laws of physics had been broken to further the plot. At night he would point out constellations and share the myths associated with them. He was a frequent contributor of letters to the editor of the New York Times and wrote several books for middle schoolers. He is survived by two daughters, three sisters, and two grandchildren.

Roberto Manuel Benito “Tito” Sanchez Miranda, MBA’73, died October 22 in Clackamas, OR. He was 82. Born in Morocco, Sanchez moved to Spain to study law at the University of Madrid and served an obligatory term in the Spanish army. Later, a job at Fonorama music magazine gave him the chance to write about and meet famous musicians such as Tom Jones and the Beatles. With his business degree, Sanchez took a job at Hewlett Packard in Spain and in 1976 transferred to the company’s growing division in Corvallis, OR, residing there for many years. His favorite hobby was flying—he had a private pilot’s license—and he enjoyed world travel. Survivors include a daughter and a sister.

Mary Ann Swedlund Knudten, PhD’74, of New Berlin, WI, died October 23. She was 87. Knudten served as campus dean and CEO of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee at Waukesha from 1980 to 1999. In that role she supported nontraditional and working students with similar trajectories to her own. As a scholarship student, Knudten had completed her degree in bacteriology at the University of Kansas and gone on to do graduate work in sociology while raising four children. She also taught at Marquette University and cofounded a criminal justice research firm with her former husband. In retirement, Knudten volunteered for Milwaukee-area community organizations and enjoyed travel and the arts, especially music. She is survived by a daughter, two sons, a sister, and six grandchildren.

Joseph F. Delaney, MBA’76, died October 17 in Ocala, FL. He was 82. Educated by Jesuits in Detroit and at Xavier University, Delaney was at seminary briefly and earned a bachelor of science in physics. He later spent four years in the US Air Force as a task scientist, collecting a commendation for his work on emerging laser technology. Delaney’s career focused on developing and marketing new technologies such as early lasers, video cameras, printers, semiconductors, and satellite radomes. Moving from Chicago to Florida in 1978, he enjoyed reunions that brought his extended family together. He is survived by one daughter, two sons, two brothers, and three grandchildren.

Terry W. Du Clos, PhD’77, died October 28 in Albuquerque, NM. He was 75. Raised in suburban Chicago, Du Clos attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and went on to graduate studies in microbiology and immunology. After completing his MD and residency at Rush Medical School, he trained in rheumatology at Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. Settling in Albuquerque with his family in 1986, he saw patients at the Veterans Affairs hospital and did research in immunology at the University of New Mexico, retiring as professor emeritus in 2013. Du Clos loved to learn new skills and taught himself to restore cars, weld, fly-fish, build furniture, and turn wood. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; a daughter; a son; two sisters; one brother; and a grandchild.

1980s

Kenneth J. Krolczyk, MBA’80, of West Chicago, IL, died October 30. He was 67. Krolczyk grew up on the southwest side of Chicago and studied finance at DePaul University. He started working for the First National Bank of Chicago at age 16 while in high school and, over 30 years and several mergers, rose to the position of senior vice president. After retiring from Chase Bank in 2001, Krolczyk was self-employed in educational services. A nature and sports lover, he played golf and followed the Chicago White Sox and Bears. He is survived by his wife, Anita; a daughter; two sons; two sisters; a brother; and five grandchildren.

Ronald J. Krumm, PhD’81, of Ashkum, IL, died September 16. He was 69. A graduate of Knox College, Krumm wrote his UChicago doctoral thesis about the impact of the minimum wage on regional labor markets. After teaching in the Committee on Public Policy Studies (now Harris School of Public Policy) and the College, he founded Krumm and Associates (now Analytic Innovations), a company that pioneered the evaluation of individual-level behavioral data to provide insights into customer behavior. Survivors include his wife, Barbara, and a sister.

Leo G. LeSage, MBA’81, of Boulder, CO, died July 6. He was 87. LeSage attended the University of Kansas on a US Navy ROTC scholarship, completing a degree in engineering physics. While serving in the Naval Reactors Branch of the navy, he became interested in nuclear power. With a doctorate in nuclear engineering from Stanford, he launched a 33-year career at Argonne National Laboratory, directing several programmatic divisions and making many technical contributions to fast reactor technology. LeSage represented the United States on the international committee responsible for developing a plan to stabilize the Chernobyl reactor site after 1986. He lived in Naperville, IL, where he was active in Rotary International and his church before retiring to Colorado in 2017. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; two daughters; and three grandchildren.

Oliver R. W. Pergams, AB’81 (Class of 1979), died November 9 in Chicago. He was 65. With his undergraduate degree in Germanic Languages and Literature, Pergams launched a first career as an options trader. He later earned a PhD in biology. As a biology professor at Olive-Harvey College on Chicago’s far South Side, he mentored many students, championed the college’s wetlands, and founded and advised the environmental club. He was a caring teacher, accomplished biker, adventurous hiker, and loyal White Sox fan. Survivors include his partner, Charmaine Jake-Matthews; three children; a brother; and a grandchild.

Tania An-Fei Shih-Sit, AM’86, died October 20 in Minneapolis. She was 61. Born in Taiwan, Shih-Sit grew up in New Jersey. She was a gifted pianist who studied at Juilliard as a child and won the New Jersey Young Musicians Competition. At Barnard College she majored in economics, going on to study international relations at UChicago. During her career as a stockbroker, Shih-Sit worked at Brown Brothers Harriman, Nomura Securities, HSBC James Capel, and Crosby Securities before focusing on raising a family. She is survived by her husband, Raymond Sit; two daughters; her mother; a sister; and a brother.

2000s

Smith Matthew Koester, AM’06, died March 16, 2022, in Chicago. He was 48. A Kansas City native, Koester earned a bachelor’s in music at the University of Rochester and master’s degrees in music theory from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and UChicago. He composed electronic music and became a music recording and mastering engineer, opening his own studio, Barnstorm Mastering, in Chicago. Koester played old-time fretless banjo with the New Mules, a string band that included his wife, Genevieve, and her late father, both on fiddle. He was also a pilot and self-taught astronomer who loved outdoor adventures with family and friends. Survivors include his wife, a daughter, a son, his mother, his father and stepmother, and a brother.

Benjamin Sweat, MBA’07, of Austin, TX, died October 24. He was 44. Sweat grew up in Idaho and earned his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University–Idaho. With his Chicago Booth degree he became an entrepreneur, working with tech start-ups and helping bring new businesses to market. Active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Sweat was also a talented ballroom dancer who loved sports, travel, and family get-togethers. He is survived by his wife, Aprilanne; five children; his mother and father; and seven siblings.

Updated 04.05.2023 to correct that Arthur Leon Beamon, JD’72, was 79 at the time of his death.