APPENDIX B

MEMORIAL STATEMENTS

Alfred Aeppli

Alfred Aeppli, a long-time professor of mathematics at the University of Minnesota, died on Sept. 14. He was 79.

Born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland, Aeppli received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich in 1951. From 1951 to 1952, he was awarded a research fellowship at the University of Paris. He received his doctorate degrees in mathematics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich in 1957. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota faculty in 1961 as an assistant professor of mathematics, Aeppli taught mathematics at Cornell University in New York.

A member of the University's mathematics department for 37 years, until his retirement in 1998, Aeppli was an imaginative and creative mathematician whose major research interests were in algebraic topology, differential topology and global differential geometry. His numerous papers on topological problems related to differential equations have been published in a variety of mathematics journals worldwide.

Charles Backstrom

Charles Backstrom received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin in 1956, where he won the Genevieve Gorst Herfurth Award for the best social science dissertation. He taught American politics and research methods at Minnesota until his retirement in 1996. Throughout this time, Charles continuously promoted professionalism, excellence and mature scholarship, all the while imparting a steady flow of wisdom and insight to his younger colleagues. Excellence with a humane face, at all times.

When Charles did his graduate work in political science, the discipline was experiencing the behavioral revolution, a major challenge to traditional modes of research that had dominated the field. He was among the earliest scholars in the broad area of electoral behavior to develop impressive competencies in statistical analysis and computer programming. Along with Gerald Hursh-Cesar he published Survey Research, an impressive and very early tour-de-force introducing systematic data collection and analysis methods to an emergent cohort of behavioralists. Published by Northwestern University Press in 1961, it set high standards of rigor and professionalism for this new field of scholarship and it stood the test of time by being rewritten, more than doubled in size, and published again by John Wiley & Sons in 1981. This entirely revised and expanded second edition continued to be influential and heavily cited through the 1980s and 1990s.

In the meantime, with Ronald Stinnett, Charles wrote the definitive work—Recount—on the contested Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1962. Until 2008, this was the closest statewide election in Minnesota history, and after recounts and court challenges, Democrat Karl Rolvaag defeated incumbent Republican Elmer Andersen by 91 votes. It is possible that as we write this, an even closer statewide election will be decided in essentially the same way. It is ironic that Charles Backstrom passed away in the summer of 2008 because he would have reveled in the Coleman-Franken election and subsequent recount. He would have been the resident expert and could have provided wise counsel to those overseeing and re-creating the process.

Of most interest to readers of this journal, Charles Backstrom was one of the world's experts on redistricting and gerrymandering. His most important work on this subject is undoubtedly "Issues in Gerrymandering: An Explanatory Measure of Partisan Gerrymandering Applied to Minnesota," published in July, 1978 in the Minnesota Law Review. (This article was co-authored by Leonard Robins and Scott Eller, reflecting Backstrom's characteristic generosity toward research assistants.) The specific measure of partisan gerrymandering presented in this article published some thirty years ago has been superseded by subsequent work, as predicted and indeed welcomed by the authors themselves. Its contribution to how we think about partisan gerrymandering has, however, endured. Prior to this article the dominant narrative concerning partisan gerrymandering focused on the geographic shape of districts and the remedy prescribed to preclude it was a requirement that districts be compact. In this article, Backstrom and his colleagues demonstrated that plans with nearly identical degrees of competitiveness could have widely differing partisan effects. They argued that we needed a political measure for a political problem and to this day, that has remained the predominant frame for partisan gerrymandering.

In the last years of his academic life, Backstrom's major scholarly work was with Robins on the politics of AIDS. It did not receive the degree of attention or obtain the influence he and Robins would have liked, but it was important for Backstrom to show that even (or perhaps especially) the study of the most explosively emotional subjects could benefit from an honest and objective perspective.

Charles Backstrom was passionate about practical politics and he brought his careful, scholarly analysis to bear on the political process throughout his life—although his professionalism put strict limits on how he did this. Along with John Turner, in 1961 Charles helped his colleague Art Naftalin get elected Mayor of Minneapolis by creating a quantitative measure of precincts' "Naftalin potential." They served as Naftalin's consultants and helped him obtain the nomination. They then conducted an entirely new statistical analysis to re-rate Minneapolis's precincts, creating a new general election strategy, also successfully. This solidified a reputation as a remarkably successful, data-driven campaign consultant. Charles also developed a very successful set of 100 bellweather precincts for Minnesota elections that was used successfully by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and others to avoid significant errors in "calling" elections based on early returns.

At the start of his career, Charles received an APSA Congressional Fellowship, working for Congressman Carl Elliott of Alabama. A racial progressive in a non-progressive district, Congressman Elliott sacrificed his career to promote racial equality. Years later, when the Kennedy Library Foundation's Profiles in Courage Awards were created, Charles and Elliott's Administrative Assistant, Mary Ellen Jolley, nominated Elliott and he became the very first recipient in 1990.

In addition to his scholarship, Charles Backstrom helped create and run a remarkable student internship program. At a time when many such programs were purely applied, Charles insisted that all students who participated be trained to understand and apply analytic scholarly perspectives about their applied experiences. His unwavering commitment to the disciplined scholarship of political science was never compromised whether dealing with undergraduates or colleagues.

A few additional words are required about Backstrom the man. The extent of his kindness and generosity to colleagues, students, friends and even strangers was remarkable, but others of course also share these qualities. His combination of deep religiosity and complete tolerance and non-judgmentalism was, however, in this age of culture wars, extremely rare. He is greatly missed.

Sharon L. Beckes

Sharon L. Beckes, human resources administrator for University of Minnesota Extension for 16 years, died August 11, 2008 after an extended illness, at age 61.  Sharon was known for her dedication to Extension, creating a positive work environment and encouraging wide participation in communication and decision-making.

Martin W. Duffy

The Carlson School of Management lost a friend and colleague when Martin W. Duffy, former associate professor of Labor Education Services, passed away Dec. 6 in Seagrove Beach, Fla.

Duffy came to the University of Minnesota in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in economics and psychology from Northern Michigan State College (now Northern Michigan University) and several years as a labor union activist in the iron ore mining industry.

As associate professor of Labor Education Services, Duffy taught evening classes to union members and collective bargaining to business school students.  He mentored many young labor educators and was a pioneer in the use of audio-visual materials. He created a video archive of the lives of several labor leaders and working people in their later years to preserve and highlight their contributions. His film of Vice President Hubert Humphrey's emotional "Last Speech to Labor" at the 1977 Minnesota AFL-CIO convention garnered national recognition. He also produced an award-winning documentary, "Labor's Turning Point," about the 1934 Teamster's strike in Minneapolis. In 1984, he created a cable television program, "Minnesota at Work."

Martin supported the Teamsters for decades and worked with them on many programs. He also was active in Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and advised several prominent candidates in public speaking and labor issues, including former Minneapolis mayor and Congressman Don Fraser and U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. 

Martin is survived by his partner of 30 years, Nancy James; son Martin J. Duffy and his wife Laurie of Maple Grove, Minn.; daughters Debra Clark of DeForest, Wis.; and Colleen Duffy of Austin, Texas; grandsons, Derek Duffy and Joshua (Brenna) Duffy; granddaughter, Shannon Clark; and dozens of other relatives and close friends.

Helen Horwitz

In October 2008, Helene Horwitz, associate dean for student affairs, passed away following treatment for a brain tumor. She had served the University of Minnesota Medical School for nearly 20 years. Horwitz devoted her career to aiding medical students, first at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, then at the Minnesota Medical Foundation and, from 1989 on, at our Medical School. It was noted in her obituary that Helene felt lucky to have such a rewarding job; we, too, are fortunate that she served the Medical School and our students with such dedication.

Among her many tasks, she advised the Medical School Student Council and the leaders of the American Medical Student Association. Helene was involved with our chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society as well as the more recently established chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which promotes the education of compassionate doctors. She also advised students with personal or academic struggles, and helped students who were referred to the Committee on Student Scholastic Standing.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Charles Horwitz of St. Louis Park; daughter, Karyn Rudnick of St. Paul; sons, Martin Rudnick of Minneapolis, and Michael Rudnick of New York City; former husband, Hans Rudnick of Carbondale, Ill., and four grandchildren.

The Drs. Helene and Charles Horwitz Scholarship Fund at the Minnesota Medical Foundation has been established to provide scholarships to students with demonstrated financial need at the University of Minnesota Medical School who are members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

James Joichi

We are saddened to report the death of our retired colleague Jim Joichi this past October. Jim was born in Colorado in 1927, the youngest of seven sons. Their father was a truck farmer, and so the family moved a lot during the Second World War.  At the end of the war, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Army. As a sign of the thinking of that time, the Army recorded his nationality as Japanese --- even though he was clearly American by birth.

A superior student with an obvious talent for mathematics, Jim ended up as a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and wrote his Ph.D. thesis in functional analysis under Prof. Robert Bartle. Jim joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1959, was promoted to full professor in 1989, and retired in 1992. He was an outstanding collaborator, initially working with the late Glen Baxter. He gradually moved towards combinatorics, writing many papers jointly with our colleagues. In particular, a collaboration with Jay Goldman and Dennis White led to a series of five influential papers on "rook theory".  Jim subsequently collaborated with Dennis Stanton on several elegant papers on partitions. Over the years, Jim played an important role in creating and sustaining a lively and distinguished combinatorics group in our department.

In addition to his research and teaching contributions at Minnesota, Jim served as Director of Undergraduate Studies for four years, where he brought a positive and friendly outlook to what some consider to be a thankless job. For relaxation, Jim enjoyed a variety of hobbies, especially fishing out West.  He was never married.

For all of us who knew him, he will be missed.

Paul J. Maupin, Jr.

Paul J. Maupin Jr. passed away at his home in Placida, Florida on Sunday,

September 7, 2008.  Paul joined the University's Health Sciences Administration that was led by Senior Vice President Lyle French as a Project Coordinator in 1971.  His primary responsibility was to coordinate the planning and construction of capital projects consistent with the Health Sciences Master Plan.  This required a close working relationship with the Council of Deans and other key administrators in the Health Sciences.  His direct report was to Associate Vice President for Physical Planning and Development Clint Hewitt.  Hewitt remembers Paul as a very dedicated, skilled project director, and persuasive spokesman for capital projects in the Health Sciences.  He helped the University navigate determinedly with its development goals through the busy construction activities of the middle 70s and 80s and the limited development resources during the latter part of the decade.   Paul remained enthusiastic and supremely confident about the future of planning and development in the Health Sciences, until his retirement in 1993. 

Keith McFarland

On Dec. 27, 2008, the University of Minnesota lost a distinguished longtime member of the community and an ardent supporter when Keith McFarland died at age 87. McFarland is most remembered for his many years of visionary leadership of the College of Human Ecology (formerly the College of Home Economics). McFarland was an administrator at the University for more than 44 years, ending his career by serving as dean of the former General College.

McFarland began working in the office of the director of resident instruction in the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Home Economics starting in 1946. He later became dean of the former College of Home Economics. He went on to serve as deputy chancellor of the Waseca campus before returning to the Twin Cities campus to lead General College. McFarland was a Regents Award recipient and a strong supporter of University programs and activities throughout his years. He was also influential in the field of home economics and served at one point as vice president for public affairs for the American Home Economics Association.

McFarland earned all of his postsecondary degrees at the University: a bachelor's degree from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences in 1942, an M.A. in educational psychology in 1952, and a Ph.D. in education in 1955. In between his bachelor's and master's degrees, he served four campaigns in the Army during World War II and earned a Bronze Star.

McFarland's colleagues remembered him as talented administrator who cared deeply about the faculty, staff, and students with whom he worked. He was respected for his leadership and his caring.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, MaryEllen, two children, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Roger B. Page

Roger B. Page, retired associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts, died in Minneapolis on December 19, 2008. His death was the result of the consequences of a stroke he suffered in April of 1997.

Roger was born on August 14th, 1917, in Richmond, Virginia. After a youth spent as a serious student and an avid Boy Scout, he enrolled in Richmond College (now Richmond University) in 1934, graduating from it with honors in psychology in 1938. He then entered graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, transferring to the University of Minnesota soon thereafter. He interrupted his graduate work in psychology to enlist as an ensign in the Navy in 1942, where he worked in the psychological testing and screening of candidates for flight training.  After the war Roger returned to the University to complete his PhD in psychology. In 1948 he became and assistant dean and later an associate dean in what was then the College of Science, Literature, and the Arts and remained in it and its reincarnation as the College of Liberal Arts until his retirement in 1988. In those 40 years he served with five deans: T. Raymond McConnell, Errett A. McDiarmid, E. W. Ziebarth, Frank J. Sorauf, and Fred E. Lukermann.

Initially, Roger's career in CLA and it predecessor was heavily oriented to programs and services for undergraduate students in the College. He developed and oversaw the College's advising services for students in their pre-major years. Through the years he also championed new programs the College established for undergraduates—the honors program, the interdisciplinary major, internships for credit, and individually defined majors embracing work in a number of departments. He also served as the longtime advisor to the Student Intermediary Board, the elected council of undergraduates.

After the College added a new assistant dean to oversee the student services, Roger's responsibilities broadened. Between 1973 and 1978 for example, he organized a data division for the College and recruited the first statisticians, organized and oversaw the membership of College committees, served as the College's contact with a number of other colleges offering undergraduate and adult courses and curricula, and served with the other associate deans in the College and a committee to respond to temporary budget problems in the departments and programs of the College. Above all, he remained an advocate in the College administration for the health of undergraduate program and for shaping its curriculum to new circumstances and new student interests. More generally, because of his long service, he was the informal historian of the College especially for the deans and associate deans who came and went during his years with it. And yet his mastery of the past never impeded his ability to consider or even advocate change when new times warranted it. Many of those changes serve as monuments to his foresight and wisdom.

His colleagues—those who came and went—remember Roger as the quintessential colleague: helpful and supportive, thoughtful and wise, serious, but a man also of quiet wit and humor. Man, too remember his love of the English language and his mastery of its rhetoric and styles, and its capacity for clarity. That mastery improved the prose of the College because of his willingness to read drafts of manuscripts and policy papers, and especially of his close attention to the College's catalogue of course descriptions and curricular requirements. Above all, they remember his undeviating devotion to the College and the University and to their students.

Those students who were members of the Student Board or who were on committees with Roger remember him as a quietly wise mentor and friend, a man from whom they learned much about the University and the arts and skills of being students. On questions of policy-making in the College they remember him as his faculty colleagues do, right down to his gentle wit and his unfailing good will. At the memorial celebration of his life in the University, held January 25th, 2009, both students and faculty colleagues and friends remembered Roger in much the same terms, for Roger was essentially the same man to all who knew and worked with him, regardless of age or status, and regardless of what task or interest brought them together. He was a man for all seasons and all scholarly places.

Roger and his first wife, Sara, had four children: daughters Nora and Emily (Oliver Steinberg), and sons Christopher (Meryll) and Gregory, and five grandchildren, all whom survive him. He is also survived by his wife, Mary Ann Morgan Page, whom he married in 1960. Together they enjoyed 48 years of companionship, outdoor activities, camping, gardening, do-it-yourself projects at home, and travel within the U.S. and abroad.

Roger Page's legacy rests on his dedication to the mission of this College and University in educating the young men and women of the state and region. In every research university I have known of known about, however, the undergraduate mission is only partially served by the incentives and the ethos of the university. Whether public or private, research universities thrive on scholarly grants, research and publications, general public celebrity, and training new young scholars. They are by nature large, somewhat impersonal, and inevitably bureaucratic. It is Roger Pages in them that soften the interface between the university and its novice students, and who represent the interests of those students in the jockeying within the university for scarce resources. They are scattered all through the University of Minnesota, in advising offices, in assistant or associate deanships, in counseling services, and the academic departments (where they can usually be identified by their willingness to teach introductory courses.) They nurture beginning students, they teach about making good academic choices, and they remind the rest of us of our obligations to make the work of a research university serve the least experienced students. In all of these tasks, Roger Page was a paragon, and he has left the College of Liberal Arts and the University of Minnesota greatly in his debt.

James Rothenberger

Jim Rothenberger, a member of the faculty of the School of Public Health since 1972, was an outstanding teacher, inspiration to thousands of students and a dear friend of the School and the University.  Jim received the University's highest honor for teaching, the Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, as well as numerous other University and professional awards for teaching and community service. 

Former students recall his lectures, his gift for storytelling and the passion he brought to public health discussions.  Many who have pursued degrees and careers in public health credit Jim for inspiring their career choice.  Many more students (he taught nearly 100,000 over 35 years) recall him as one of the best teachers they ever had.

Even while battling serious illness for 23 years, Jim taught a heavy course load – about 15 a year.  He pioneered new courses on HIV/AIDS, alcohol and drug abuse and dying and death in contemporary society. In 2002, he created an innovative online course, Alcohol and College Life, for incoming freshman. It is now offered on six campuses.  Jim also found time to make numerous presentations to campus and community groups and national and international conferences each year.  And he served as an adviser to health organizations and agencies.

Born in 1947, Jim followed his father and grandfather in earning a bachelor's degree at the U of M, in 1969.  In 1979, he received a master's in public health, also at the U.  Jim is survived by his mother Merna and sister Jane, both of Pensacola, Fla.

When asked what he did at the University, Jim would respond, "I teach about sex, drugs and death."  What he didn't say was that he devoted himself to his students, his teaching assistants and his profession – and inspired all who had the good fortune to know him. 

Allan Spear

The History Department at the University of Minnesota feels deeply the loss of our friend, colleague, mentor, and teacher, Allan Spear.  One of the wonderful things about Allan was how he had an impact on so many people, including those from younger generations.

Much focus has been on Allan's many achievements in politics and as a pioneer in GLBT issues, but Allan also had a path-breaking scholarship and impact on students.  Allan arrived at Minnesota in 1964 as a twenty-seven year old fresh from graduate school at Yale. Even in those early years, he was considered a pioneer in the field of American history, and especially in African American history. 

His book, Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, 1890-1920 (1967), was the first historical study to examine how white racism and institutionalized discrimination in housing, employment, and municipal services led to the formation of the African American ghetto in Chicago. Allan's research helped Americans – both inside and outside of academia – understand both the roots and consequences of institutionalized racism.

But Allan's research was just one part of who he was as a historian. For nearly forty years, he taught 20th century American history to thousands of Minnesota undergraduates. His classes are the stuff of legend.

"Anyone ever try to get into one his classes?" one former student wrote on the Star Tribune comments webpage. "They were filled, not because students "wanted to be taught by a gay guy"...they just wanted to learn."

"History included me, when Alan Spears taught it," another former student – an African American – wrote. "As I watched him pace back and forth in that gigantic classroom, I was transfixed by his humor, his words, and more importantly his ability to make history meaningful to us all."

Allan Spear has left an enduring legacy at the University in his scholarship and in the ways in which he affected students. But he also fundamentally changed how we saw the world around us, and he inspired us to act. The U – like the state Senate, like Minnesota - was never the same after Allan, and that has been a great thing.

Rudolph J. Vecoli

Professor Rudolph J. Vecoli passed away June 17, 2008 in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota. He was 81 and lived in St. Paul.

Rudy grew up in Wallingford, Conn., the son of immigrants from Tuscany. His 1963 Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison examined the experiences of Italians in Chicago before World War I. Rudy taught at Rutgers and the University of Illinois before joining the University of Minnesota's Department of History in 1967.

As director of the University's Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) from 1967 to 2005, and in his books and articles, Rudy significantly shaped the fields of immigration history and ethnic history. He challenged the notion that immigrants left their cultures behind to assimilate quickly into America's "melting pot," demonstrating instead that immigrants purposefully retained many cultural elements from their home countries and resisted pressures to relinquish their heritage. Rudy will be remembered for the dedication and enthusiasm with which he pursued, as he put it, the "ethnic histories of which we know little or nothing." He was crucial to the development of the IHRC into one of the nation's premier repositories for source materials documenting the experiences of immigrants and refugees in the United States.

Rudy was honored for his scholarship with numerous awards, and he helped found two organizations: the American Italian Historical Association (serving as its president from 1966 to 1970) and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (president from 1982 to 1985), which also awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award. From 1983 to 2003 Rudy was chairman of the history committee advising the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.

Rudy is survived by his former wife, Jill, and his daughter, Lisa, both of Minneapolis, two sons, Chris, of Corvallis, Ore., and Jeremy, of Minneapolis, a sister, Olga Gralton, of Wallingford, and one granddaughter