Obituary

Mark V. Sapir, Centennial Professor of Mathematics who made significant research contributions in the areas of geometric group theory, semigroup theory and combinatorial algebra, died in Nashville on Oct. 8. Read More

Erwin Charles Hargrove Jr., professor of political science, emeritus, and a former director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, died Oct. 11 in Nashville. Read More

John A. McCarthy, an accomplished scholar of German and European studies and the first director of the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies, died Aug. 20 in Portland, Oregon. Read More

Matthew Ramsey, professor of history and medicine, health and society, emeritus, who taught at Vanderbilt for more than three decades and was the founding director of the Center for Medicine, Health and Society, died Sept. 2. Read More

International nuclear waste management pioneer and member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering Frank L. Parker, 96, died Aug. 10 in Nashville. Parker was named Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, Emeritus, and professor of civil and environmental engineering, emeritus, in 2011 after a 43-year career at Vanderbilt. Read More

Larry C. Hall, a retired chemistry professor who taught thousands of Vanderbilt students and directed training programs for high school and college teachers and others with responsibility for hazardous materials, died Aug. 15. Read More

Paul K. Conkin, Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus, former chair of the Department of History and author of more than 20 books on a wide range of American intellectual history, died July 23 in Nashville. Read More

Christopher M.S. Johns, the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Professor of Fine Arts and professor of history of art and architecture, died at his home on May 8 after a long illness. Read More

Benjamin Thomas Jordan Jr., associate professor of the practice of engineering management, died Feb. 21 in Nashville following a brief illness. He was 79. Jordan was an active faculty member in the Division of General Engineering and had been teaching three engineering management courses this semester. Read More

Melvin Duane Joesten, an emeritus chemistry professor and co-founder of Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, died Jan. 17 in Nashville after a brief illness. He was 89. Read More

The chimes of Kirkland Hall’s clock tower will ring five times on Dec. 21 in memory of Paul Wynn Young, who devoted more than 40 years to keeping Kirkland Hall’s signature clock and chimes in good working order. Read More

John R. Hall, BE’55, a champion for education and trustee emeritus whose deep devotion to Vanderbilt earned him the nickname “Kentucky Commodore,” died Nov. 25 in Lexington, Kentucky. Read More

Yaqiong Xu, associate professor of electrical engineering and physics, died Oct. 30 after a long-term illness. A celebration of her life will be held Friday, Dec. 3, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the School of Engineering’s Jacobs Believed in Me Auditorium, 134 Featheringill Hall. Read More

Vereen M. Bell, a professor of English, emeritus, who had a transformational influence on countless students, challenged institutional structures and pushed for greater diversity at Vanderbilt, died Aug. 24 at home in Nashville. He was 86 years old. Read More

Carter Philips, BA’65, professor of classics, emeritus, and university marshal at Vanderbilt Commencement for more than two decades, died July 8. He was 78. Read More

Amber Pursley, a staff member in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, died suddenly on Monday, June 21. To help process this loss, an in-person grieving session open to the entire Vanderbilt community will be held on Friday, June 25, from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Great Room of E. Bronson Ingram College. Read More

Emmanuele DiBenedetto, a retired mathematics professor who made significant contributions to the understanding of partial differential equations, has died after a 15-month struggle with cancer. Read More

Matthew Walker III, who developed and taught Vanderbilt University’s innovative biomedical engineering design curriculum, died unexpectedly on April 24. He was 56. Read More

Charles E. Roos, a retired physics professor who built his department’s research in areas ranging from superconducting wire to recycling technology, has died. He was 93. Read More

Professor of Nursing Thomas Christenbery died unexpectedly in his sleep Feb. 16. In his two decades at Vanderbilt School of Nursing, the popular professor taught and mentored hundreds of students and colleagues, encouraging them to reach for new possibilities. Read More