In Memoriam: 2012

J. Douglas Faires passed away on December 21, 2012, at the age of 71. He was a professor at Youngstown State University and a member of the MAA since 1963. Faires was a prolific author, and among his works was the widely-used text Numerical Analysis (with R. Burden). Among the awards he received during his career was the Outstanding College-University Teacher of Mathematics by the Ohio Section of the MAA. Faires also accepted the MacDuffee Award by Pi Mu Epsilon for lifetime service in 2006, and he served a term as the PME President. Further information about his life and career can be found in this citation by the AMS and in an extensive obituary. His wife Barbara Faires is the Secretary of the MAA, and he and Barbara were inducted into the MAA’s Icosahedron Society in 2011.

David Trunnell passed away on October 12, 2012, at the age of 69. He was a professor at Xavier University, and a member of the MAA for 30 years. Trunnell was a member of the “Environment and Mathematics” committee of the MAA. His obituary can be found here.

Irving Adler passed away on September 22, 2012, at the age of 99. As described in The New York Times, Adler was "a former New York City teacher who became a prolific writer of books on math and science for young people [such as the Giant Golden Book of Mathematics] after being forced from the classroom during the Red Scare of the early 1950s." He was a member of the MAA since 1959. He was known for his work in phyllotaxis (the arrangement of leaves, scales, or florets in botany) and his book on the subject was reviewed by the MAA, as well as a second book on geometry. Further information about his life and career can be found on his Wikipedia page.

Sr Helen Christensen passed away on August 2, 2012, at the age of 85. She was professor emerita at Loyola University Maryland and retired in 2006. She was a member of the MAA since 1970 and a Sister of Mercy for 66 years. Christensen made lasting contributions to the Maryland-District of Columbia-Virginia Section by writing and maintaining a Section Officers Handbook and by raising the visibility of Putnam Competition students in her section. At the national level, Christensen was a member of Carriage House Advisory Board and the Committee on Department Liaisons. In addition, the Maryland-District of Columbia-Virginia Section has established the Sister Helen Christensen Service Award for outstanding service to the profession. In 2015, Christensen received the MAA’s Meritorious Service Award. Read more about her life and career a remembrance from Loyola and her obituary.

Richard C. Metzler passed away on June 2, 2012, at the age of 74. He joined the MAA in 1962 and he was a retired professor at the University of New Mexico. His obituary can be found here.

Donald Bushaw passed away on May 8, 2012, at the age of 85. He was a professor and department chair at Washington State University. Bushaw’s PhD thesis is recognized as the beginning of modern optimal control theory. He was a member of the MAA since 1964, and received the Certificate of Meritorious Service Award from the Pacific Northwest Section in 1996. A retrospective of his career is available from Washington State University, as well as a remembrance in the AMS Notices (see page 298). Read his obituary.

Charles E. Ostman passed away on March 12, 2012, at the age of 88. He was a member of the MAA who lived in Washington State. More information about his life can be found in his obituary.

Raymond William Freese, 78, passed away on March 11, 2012. He joined the MAA in 1960. Read more about his life here.

Benedict Freedman, 92, passed away on March 4, 2012. Freedman joined MAA in 1967. Read more about his life here.

Robert Owens, 90, passed away on February 28, 2012. An MAA member since 1954, read more about his life here.

Harry Rosenzweig, 72, passed away February 3, 2012. An MAA member since 1970, read more about his life here.

Bonnie Litwiller, 74, passed away January 27, 2012. An MAA member since 1962, read more about her life.

Radhika Ramamurthi passed away on January 27, 2012, at the age of 38, after a long struggle with cancer. She was a professor of mathematics at California State University San Marcos, and a member of the MAA. Ramamurthi was known for her mentoring of women in mathematics, and tributes can be found from Cal State San Marcos faculty, students, and the University of Illinois.

Marion Wetzel, 92, passed away on January 14, 2012. An MAA member since 1952, read more about her life here.

Dorothy Heller, 91, passed away on January 13, 2012. An MAA member since 1968, read more about her life here.

H. David Lipsich, 91, passed away on January 12, 2012. An MAA member since 1943, read more about his life here (pdf).

Basil Gordon passed away on January 12, 2012, at the age of 80. He was a professor of mathematics at UCLA, and a member of the MAA since 1954. Gordon was known for his contributions to number theory, combinatorics, algebra, and applied mathematics. He was Tom Apostol's first PhD student and went on to supervise 26 doctoral students at UCLA. Gordon did significant work for the MAA’s Anneli Lax New Mathematical Library. He was remembered in the AMS Notices in this article, and further information can be found on his Wikipedia page. Read more about his life here.

Herbert Wilf passed away on January 7, 2012, at the age of 80. He was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania until his retirement in 2008, and he was a member of the MAA since 1978. Wilf was a pioneer in discrete mathematics and in the mathematical programming of early computers. Obituaries, remembrances, a retrospective in the AMS Notices, and further information about his life and career have been collected by the University of Pennsylvania.

William Ullery, 58, passed away on January 1, 2012. An MAA member since 1980, read more about his life here.