IN MEMORIAM

It is with deep regret that we report the death of the following Sigma Xi members. The information presented below has been provided by family members of the deceased, unless otherwise noted. Please email the Membership, Chapters, and Programs Department to share information on a deceased member.

Robert Raymond Provine

Dr. Robert Provine, Sigma Xi member since 1968, passed away on October 17, 2019.

Dr. Provine, known as an Authority on Laughter, received his Ph.D. in psychology at Washington University, where he also worked for several years as a research assistant professor. His training focused on neuropsychology and neuroembryology.

Provine’s research on topicssuch as yawning, laughter, tickling, and emotional tears provided fascinating insights into the fundamental building blocks of human social behavior.

Provine labeled his creative ethological approach as “sidewalk neuroscience.” He demonstrated repeatedly how fundamental insights into human nature could be obtained with careful observation and simple equipment such as a stopwatch and notepad. “My approach to understanding laughter is one that a visiting extraterrestrial might take,” he wrote later. “What would the visitor make of the large bipedal animals emitting paroxysms of sound from a toothy vent in their faces?” Provine’s 2014 book Curious Behavior, brought together 20 years of ethological and laboratory research on laughter, yawning, tickling, emotional tearing, and related topics. He characterized this book as ‘a celebration of undergraduate research at UMBC’ because almost all of the research described was conducted with student collaborators.

Provine was featured in American Scientist multiple times, including this article on yawning, published in the November-December 2005 issue.

Dr. Adele L. Boskey

Dr. Adele L Boskey, Sigma Xi member since 1967, passed away in May 2017 at 73 years of age. Dr. Boskey was a leader in musculoskeletal research. She was a research trailblazer and a dedicated mentor to countless students, residents, fellows, clinicians and junior scientists.

Dr. Boskey earned her bachelor’s in chemistry from Barnard College, her PhD from Boston University and began her post-doctoral fellowship at the Imperial College in London, completing her fellowship at Hospital for Surgical Surgery in 1972.

The first female president of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), she devoted her intellectual energies to untangling the mysteries of musculoskeletal diseases.During her distinguished career, Dr. Boskey won numerous prestigious awards for her work, including the Orthopaedic Research Society/American Orthopaedic Association Alfred R. Shands, Jr. Award, which honors a scientist who has made significant contributions to the understanding of musculoskeletal disease. She also served as the first female president of the Orthopaedic Research Society and was the first female and PhD to receive the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society/Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation.

Her impact on the countless scientists and surgeons she mentored is immeasurable.

Dr. Michael Douglas Coe

Michael D. Coe, Sigma Xi member since 1977, died at 90 years of age. He was an anthropologist at Yale and he devoted his career to proving that the ancient Maya incubated an elaborate written language that had previously been undervalued by many scholars. Dr. Coe mined classical texts, lead excavations in Guatemala and Mexico, and wrote best-selling books that roused public interest.

Dr. Coe was instrumental in deciphering the Maya script and in translating and validating the authenticity of what became known as the Grolier Codex , what is now considered the earliest existing manuscript in the Americas.
Dr. Coe defied contemporary critics who believed that the Maya hieroglyphics had been randomly inscribed and did not represent a recorded language.

Norman Francis Parker

Dr. Norman Francis Parker, lifetime member of Sigma Xi since 1947, passed away at his home in San Antonio, Texas, on April 20, 2019. Born in Fremont, Nebraska, on May 14, 1923, Norman Parker spent his childhood between Fremont and San Diego. He graduated from San Diego High School, and after serving on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee during the war, he graduated from for Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1948 with a Doctorate of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Parker led the Autonetics Division at North American Aviation, Inc., from 1948-67, during which the provision to the military of the guidance and control system for the Minute Man missile and the inertial guidance system for nuclear submarines were developed. From 1967-68, he served as Executive VP and Director at The Bendix Corporation in Detroit before joining Varian Associates in Palo Alto, CA, as President, CEO and Director.

Recognized for his exceptional technical, management and executive skills, Dr. Parker served as director for the National Academy of Engineering’s Board of Army Science and Technology, and was a fellow in IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and AIAA (the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics). His civic and charitable contributions included serving as a Life Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University along with assuming the responsibility of Directorships for Saint Clare's Homes, the Boys and Girls Club of Escondido, California, and the San Francisco Medical Research Center.

Norm Parker was a sports car enthusiast and raced in time trials throughout the U.S. and Europe. Travel was a second passion of his and he spent his retirement years exploring the world. His daughter shares that he was “known for his intelligence and his integrity, qualities that never wavered, and his greatest sense of pride and accomplishment came from those he loved.”

Victor J. Danilov

Dr. Victor J. Danilov, a Sigma Xi member, former director and president of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago in 1972–1987, and author of 28 books, died on July 26, 2018, in Evanston, Illinois, at the age of 93.

He was an honor student, school newspaper editor, and star basketball player at a high school in Farrell, Pennsylvania. He received a scholarship to Penn State, where he also edited the student paper and played varsity basketball while earning a bachelor's degree in journalism in two years in 1944–1945 in an accelerated program during the 1940s world war years. He then received a master's degree at Northwestern University in 1946 and a doctor of education at the University of Colorado in 1964.

Dr. Danilov began as a newspaper reporter in Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, and then became a journalism instructor at the University of Colorado and Kansas, director of public relations at Illinois Institute of Technology's Armour Research Foundation, science magazine editor, and director and president of the Museum of Science and Industry. After retiring in 1987, he founded and directed a summer short course for museum directors and department heads at the University of Colorado for 17 years. He and his wife, Toni Dewey, then returned to the Chicago area, where he largely continued his writing about museums, devoted largely to their history, collections, exhibits, and programs.

Robert E. Saute

Robert E. Saute passed away on March 2, 2019 in Granada Hills, California. He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1952.

Dr. Saute earned his Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Science at Rhode Island College of Pharmacy—now University of Rhode Island—in 1950. He earned both a Master’s of Science and a Doctoral in Industrial Pharmacy, with an emphasis on General Engineering and Pharmacology/Toxicology, at Purdue University.

He joined the United States Army and served his country in the Laboratory and Pharmacy divisions of MASH units during the Korean conflict in both Sapporo and Sendai, Japan until his honorable discharge in 1955.

Upon returning to the United States, Dr. Saute embarked on a decorated career in Pharmacy and Cosmetic Chemistry, first in Indiana and then in Pennsylvania. He and his wife founded Saute Consulting in 1974, where he continued to innovate in the field of cosmetic sciences until his retirement in 2010. He made many friends and mentored many young scientists along the way, many of whom carry on his legacy of hard work and innovation.

Joseph E. Kist

Joseph E. Kist passed away in October 2018. He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1954.

Dr. Kist received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Purdue University in the 1950s. He then went on to teach at the Pennsylvania State University and finally at New Mexico State University where he retired as Emeritus Professor.

Friends and colleagues who knew Joseph E. Kist described him as “quirky and eccentric; scholarly and bullheaded.” He was also quietly generous. His interests were broad: music, history, literature, and all areas of science for just a few.

He was proud of his work as a mathematician, both as a researcher and teacher. Possibly, however, his single most lasting source of pride came from Damarise, the daughter of his parents’ caretaker, Maria. Maria’s English language skills were limited as was her earning capacity. Even before Damarise started kindergarten, Dr. Kist quietly took on the role of her reading coach, math tutor and academic cheerleader; this continued throughout her schooling. And when it came time for Damarise to go to college, his support was both academic and financial. Friends say most people never knew about this endeavor.

Among his final wishes, Dr. Kist selected Sigma Xi as the recipient of a legacy gift.

George Nicholas Hatsopoulos

George Nicholas Hatsopoulos passed away on September 20, 2018. He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1950.

George Nicholas Hatsopoulos was an MIT mechanical engineering senior lecturer emeritus who founded the Thermo Electron Corporation. He also served as a life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation. In 1996, he received The John Fritz Medal which is often regarded as the highest honor in engineering.

Born in Athens, Greece Dr. Hatsopoulos demonstrated his ingenuity at a young age. Inspired by his many relatives who were engineers, he made an image projector using cellophane and light at the age of 6. He spent his early childhood enamored with Thomas Edison’s research and devoted much of his youth to studying Edison’s work.

Shortly thereafter, he studied at the National Technical University of Athens. He then moved to the United States to continue studying at MIT. He received his bachelor’s degree, master of science degree, master of engineering degree, and doctorate of science degree in mechanical engineering at MIT.

Upon graduating with his doctorate in 1956, Dr. Hatsopoulos joined the faculty in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. That same year, along with Peter Nomikos, he co-founded the Thermo Electron Corporation. As CEO and Chairman of Thermo Electron, Dr. Hatsopoulos turned the company into a global leader in analytical and monitoring instruments. While building Thermo Electron from the ground up, Dr. Hatsopoulos remained active within the MIT community. In 1962, he was named senior lecturer, a role he held until 1990.

In addition to teaching, he made major contributions to the field of thermodynamics throughout his career. In 1965, he published the seminal textbook, "Principles of General Thermodynamics," along with "Thermionic Energy Conversion Volume I" and "Thermionic Energy Conversion Volume II" in the 1970s. In 1976, he contributed to a pioneering formulation of a unified theory of mechanics and thermodynamics, which is viewed as a precursor of the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics.

Throughout his illustrious career in both academia and industry, he was celebrated with numerous awards.

John F. Ahearne

John F. Ahearne, who served as Sigma Xi executive director from 1989–1997 passed away on March 12, 2019 at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1964 and became executive director as Sigma Xi moved its headquarters from New Haven, Connecticut, to Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He also directed Sigma Xi’s ethics program and wrote the popular ethics booklet, The Responsible Researcher: Paths and Pitfalls (1999), a companion volume to Sigma Xi’s widely-circulated guidebook, Honor in Science. The Responsible Researcher addresses ethical issues relevant to all of academia, industry, government, and nongovernmental organizations. He was named executive director emeritus in recognition of his many contributions to Sigma Xi and was featured in American Scientist’s “100 Reasons to Become a Scientist or Engineer,” as the 91st scientist in the article to chime in about his inspirations for entering the research sector (he credited his mentors and role models).

Dr. Ahearne was a physicist who was an expert on nuclear power and nuclear weapons. He served as the deputy assistant secretary for resource applications in the United States Department of Energy and was the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs. He worked on the staff of the White House Energy Policy and Planning Office and became a commissioner and chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which formulates policies and develops regulations governing nuclear reactor and nuclear material safety. He also served as vice chairman of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee.

He was active on the National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences committees and was a past president of the Society for Risk Analysis. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering and was a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Society for Risk Analysis, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Ahearne earned his PhD in physics from Princeton University. He served in the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1970 and taught at the Air Force Academy, Colorado College, the University of Colorado Extension, and Duke University.

David S. Gorfein

David S. Gorfein passed away on July 31, 2018. He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1980.

A native New Yorker, Dr. Gorfein earned his PhD from Columbia University while supporting himself teaching in Montana and Utah and mailing dissertation pages home for his mother to type. His 60-year career included positions at New College, Adelphi University, and University of Texas. He started out as a social psychologist but soon became interested in short-term memory. His research on homographs culminated in the development of his activation selection model for resolving semantic ambiguity.

He loved attending Psychonomic Society meetings and discussing research with all his friends, and he was a life-long Yankee’s fan. Dr. Gorfein will be remembered for his sense of humor, his generosity toward undergraduate and graduate students, his talent for creating community, and his ability to find puns everywhere.

Kenneth Leroy Larson

Kenneth Leroy Larson of Ames, Iowa passed away on February 21, 2018. He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1960.

Kenneth Leroy Larson attended Iowa State College (ISU) where he was in USAF-ROTC for four years graduating in May 1954. In September 1954, he moved to Winter Haven, Florida, training on B-25 and T-29 aircraft. Following three years of service, stationed in San Angelo and Waco, Texas, Ken entered graduate college at the University of Wisconsin and was awarded a Crop Physiology PhD degree in 1961. He then served as a professor in Agronomy for nine years at North Dakota State University.

In 1970 Ken relocated to University of Missouri where he served for eight years as a professor/researcher and then five and a half years as Associate Dean of Agriculture. In 1984, Ken was sought to fill a similar position at Iowa State University returning to Ames as the Associate Dean of Agronomy. Prior to his retirement in 1996, he was a professor in Agronomy. Ken's research prior to retirement was on management and production on crambe.

W. Franklin Gilmore

W. Franklin ‘Frank’ Gilmore, past president of Sigma Xi, passed away on Feb. 14, 2018 in Oxford, Mississippi. He was inducted into Sigma Xi in 1960.

W. Franklin ‘Frank’ Gilmore devoted his professional life to academia and the advancement of chemistry. He was a professor at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi for 26 years before becoming provost at West Virginia University Institute of Technology and then chancellor at Montana Tech. He also served as president of the Goldwater Scholarship Foundation and as a reviewer for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy licensure exam for 34 years.

Dr. Gilmore’s research included the development of peptidomimetics, the first synthesis of optically active amino phosphonic acids, and the first synthesis and biological evaluation of peptides containing amino phosphonic acids. His research proved to be important in drug design and development.

Dr. Gilmore obtained his BS in chemistry at Virginia Military Institute and his PhD in organic chemistry at MIT. After earning his PhD, he served in the US Army, rising to the rank of captain. He was known as a dedicated and caring mentor and colleague and will be missed by many whose lives he deeply impacted.

IN MEMORIAM

Robert Raymond Provine

Dr. Adele L. Boskey

Dr. Michael Douglas Coe

Norman Francis Parker

Victor J. Danilov

Robert E. Saute

Joseph E. Kist

George Nicholas Hatsopoulos

John F. Ahearne

David S. Gorfein

Kenneth Leroy Larson

W. Franklin Gilmore

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