GS Class of 1954

Paul W. Wittmer ’54 AM, of Bullhead City, Ariz., formerly of Canton, Conn.; Dec. 19. He was a professor of history and economics at Tunxis Community College for more than 30 years. During that time, he worked with Native American tribes in the Southwest providing access to improved healthcare. He coauthored several books on the Native American culture and he served as president of the Canon Historical Society.

Walter Dannhauser ’54 PhD, of Buffalo, N.Y.; Sept. 8. After a short period of work in the corporate world at DuPont, he worked at SUNY Buffalo as an associate professor of chemistry. After retiring he volunteered at RID (Remove Intoxicated Drivers), the Erie County SPCA, Radio Reading Service, Compassion & Choices, and Meals on Wheels. He regularly attended the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Buffalo Chamber Music Society concerts. He enjoyed gardening, playing bridge, photography, and traveling with his wife to many U.S. National Parks. Phi Beta Kappa. He is survived by his wife, Rosemary; three sons and their spouses; two grandchildren; two sisters; and many nieces and nephews.

John H. Henkel ’54 PhD, of Athens, Ga.; June 7. He attended Southeastern Louisiana College for two years before entering a naval commission during World War II. Upon completion of his military service, he entered Tulane University and received both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in physics. He worked for three years at Magnolia Petroleum Company in Texas then matriculated at Brown. He returned to Magnolia for a short time before accepting a position as assistant professor of physics at the University of Georgia. He was an active member of the Georgia Academy of Science, serving as president in 1968, and as the director of the Georgia Science Fair in 1967. He was a member of the American Physics Society, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the scientific research society Sigma Xi. He was listed in Who’s Who in South and Southwest from 1978-1985 and in Who’s Who in America from 1980-1985. He was the graduate coordinator in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Georgia from 1964-1973. From 1973 to 1974, he was a national research council senior resident research associate at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. From 1977 to 1978, he served as a program manager for the director of physics for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. At the University of Georgia, he was elected to serve on the university council, served on many university committees, and was a president’s administrative council faculty representative. He retired from the University of Georgia in 1990. He is survived by a daughter and son-in-law and three grandchildren.

Robin L. Curtis ’54 PhD, of Brookings, Ore.; May 9. He began his career as a postdoctoral Fellow at NYU and was subsequently invited to join the faculty of the New Jersey College of Medicine. He and his family moved to Wisconsin, where he worked as a professor and research neuroscientist at Marquette University School of Medicine and then the Medical College of Wisconsin. He won many research grants and received multiple awards for his outstanding teaching. When he retired, he and his wife moved to southwest Oregon. He was a World War II U.S. Navy veteran. He is survived by his wife, Sheila; two children; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

George Veronis ’54 PhD, of New Haven, Conn.; June 30. After obtaining his PhD, he held research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and MIT, before joining the Yale faculty in 1966. He was a Yale department chair from 1976 to 1979, head of the applied mathematics program from 1979 to 1993, and named the Henry Barnard Davis Professor of Geophysics and Applied Science in 1985. For 37 years he was the editor of the Journal of Marine Research and was a cofounder and director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Summer Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He was awarded the AGU Award for Excellence in Geophysical Education in 2008. Some of his many other honors include being elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1963), being a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (1975), being a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science & Letters (1981), and being a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science (1994). He was a runner for many years and a long walker later in life. He was also a World War II U.S. Navy veteran and enjoyed bird watching and languages. He is survived by his wife, Anna; a daughter and her spouse; a son and his partner; two grandchildren; a sister; and two brothers.

Edward W. Ross Jr. ’49 ScM, ’54 PhD, of North Eastham, Mass.; Feb. 5. He was a member of the Methodist church in both Sudbury and Orleans, Mass. He enjoyed playing bridge and was a fan of the Boston Red Sox. He is survived by his wife, Nancy G. Ross, and daughter Carolyn Francisco ’83, ’85 ScM.

Eugene P. Goldberg ’54 PhD, of Tavares, Fla.; Feb. 15. He was a professor at the Univ.of Florida and a research chemist. As a research chemist at General Electric in the 1950s, he was a co-inventor of Lexan polycarbonate, served as associate director of the Borg-Warner Research Center in the 1960s, and then spent nearly a decade as director of Xerox’s Chemistry Research Laboratory in Webster, N.Y. In 1975 he joined the Univ. of Florida faculty as the biomedical engineering program of distinction professor, helping establish one of the first academic biomaterials programs. He was awarded more than 100 U.S. and foreign patents and published more than 300 technical peer-reviewed papers about organic and polymer chemistry and biomedical materials science. He was recognized by the National Science Foundation as a faculty mentor for minority graduate students. Over the years he was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Florida Scientist of the Year in 1987. He was named the Genzyme Professor for Biomaterials Science & Engineering in 1999 and was a fellow of the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering and the International College of Fellows for Biomaterials Science & Engineering. He served on several science, engineering, and biomedical advisory boards and more than a half-dozen technical journal editorial boards, in addition to regularly testifying as an expert witness concerning the safety of implanted biomaterials. He was an invited speaker at technical conferences around the world and held visiting appointments at academic and technical institutions in Israel, the U.S.S.R., and Japan. He enjoyed SCUBA diving, traveling, sailing, music, and family reunions. He is survived by two sons and their wives; seven grandchildren; and a brother.