© University of Rochester 1996-2012
This spring, the University community mourned the loss of three longtime faculty members.
Internationally recognized for his work in applied probability, Paul Schweitzer was a faculty member at the Simon Graduate School of Business for 32 years. He died March 27 at age 68.
As a young staffer at the Institute for Defense Analyses in the 1960s, Schweitzer was one of five analysts who authored the report “The Bombing of North Vietnam,” regarding the U.S. military campaign known as “Operation Rolling Thunder” that began in 1965. According to the 1968 Defense Department study commonly known as the Pentagon Papers, the report “was probably the most categorical rejection of bombing as a tool of our policy in Southeast Asia to be made before or since by an official or semi-official group.” The report was one factor leading to the cessation of bombing in late 1968.
From 1977 until his death, he taught at the Simon School as a professor of operations research and computers and information systems. At Simon, he designed models for decision making, computational procedures to optimize large-scale distribution systems, and systems to evaluate data communications networks. Those systems are “the gold standard used by the professionals designing and analyzing networks,” says Abraham (Avi) Seidmann, the Xerox Professor of Computers and Information Systems and Operations Management at the Simon School.
Says Seidmann: “His work was his life and his hobby, and he was a true intellectual as well as a warm person whom we miss very much.”
Henry Fulbright, a professor emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy who served on the faculty for nearly 40 years, died May 16. He was 90 years old.
During World War II, Fulbright worked on the Manhattan Project at Washington University in St. Louis and at Los Alamos, N.M. He joined the University faculty in 1950 as an assistant professor, and was promoted to full professor in 1956. He’s most widely remembered for supervising the rebuilding and modernization of the University’s 26-inch cyclotron, an early version of a particle accelerator that was actively used until the 1960s. Because of his efforts, the University housed one of the most modern cyclotrons used for research for many years.
After 39 years as a full-time faculty member, Fulbright was named a professor emeritus in 1989.
“Harry was not only an exceptional scientist, but he brought his ‘hands-on’ skills to his teaching,” says Nick Bigelow, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Harry taught the advanced laboratory course for 11 years, which was required for all the department’s bachelor of science majors. He put tremendous effort into that course, so all the department’s graduates in that time benefited from working with such a dedicated experimental physicist.”
A professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for the past 45 years, Edward Titlebaum died May 27. He was 72.
A pioneer in mathematical communications theory and its application to radar and sonar, he conducted research that led to many widely employed improvements in naval sonar systems. He also contributed significantly to the development of more precise electrocardiogram analysis methods as well as to the creation of new music analysis and synthesis techniques.
“Ed delighted in the beauty of mathematics and science and his enthusiasm was infectious,” says Mark Bocko, the chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
In 1996, Titlebaum became the vice provost for computing at the University, a position that he held for several years before returning to research and teaching full time.
“Ed and I have been friends since I began my career at the University 25 years ago,” says Bocko. “As a new faculty member back then I could always count on him for sound advice and support. He was a fine and wise human being with a great perspective on life. He delighted in everyone’s success—his children, those he mentored, his students, and the faculty. His counsel and friendship will be greatly missed both by me and by everyone he touched at the University.”
© University of Rochester 1996-2012