In Memoriam

We celebrate the lives of the following members of our Caltech alumni family.

 
Deborah “Debbie” Shnek

Deborah “Debbie” Shnek

Deborah (Debbie, Deb) Rebecca Shnek, Ph.D, passed away peacefully at her home in Sammamish, Washington, on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at the premature age of 54, after a long, heroic battle with cancer. At her side was her loving and supportive husband, Frode...

James “Jim” L. Adams

James “Jim” L. Adams

BY ANDREW MYERS -James L. “Jim” Adams, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and an expert in creativity and product design, passed away surrounded by family at his home on the Stanford campus on January 15, 2022; he was 87. Adams was a true “maker” – a...

Welko Gasich

Welko Gasich

Welko Elton Gasich of Los Angeles, California, passed away on Friday evening, January 14, 2022, of heart failure with his beloved wife by his side. Welko was born March 28, 1922, in the small farming community of Cupertino, California, to Elija and Catherine (Paviso)...

Eric Etheridge

Eric Pharr Etheridge passed away Jan. 9, 2022, at the age of 62. He was born in 1959 in the state of Georgia to Roger Etheridge and Rena Faye Norby, nee Ritchey. Once he completed high school there, off he went to Cal Tech and remained on the West Coast the rest of...

Martin Walt

Martin Walt

Martin Walt passed away on December 15, 2021 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 95 years old at the time of his death. Martin was born in West Plains, Missouri but spent most of his childhood in La Crescenta, CA, graduating from Glendale High School in 1944. It...

James A. Ibers, DAA

James A. Ibers, DAA

James A. Ibers, PhD and Caltech Distinguished Alumnus 1997 passed away in Chicago, IL on December 14, 2021 at the age of 91. He was Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University at the time of his passing. More information about his career is available in the memoir...

Robert Russell Marley

Robert Russell Marley

After a short illness, Robert R. (Bob) Marley passed away on December 9, 2021. He was blessed with a long, healthy life and accomplished most of the things he wished in life. Born May 7, 1940 in London, Ontario, Canada to Alma and Robert Marley, he attended and...

Mert Cramer

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

William R. Bauer

William R. Bauer

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Janet G. Jones

Janet G. Jones

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

John H. Walter

John H. Walter

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Terry O. Teigen

Terry O. Teigen

Terry passed away peacefully at the age of 84 on September 12, 2021 at home in Orange, CA surrounded by his loving family.  Terry was born in Edmore, North Dakota on February 20, 1937.  He moved to Orange with his family when he was 14 and attended Orange High School,...

Robert L. Smith

Robert L. Smith

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Arthur P. L. Turner

Arthur P. L. Turner

Arthur P.L. Turner (Art), age 79, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, August 29, 2021, at his home in Burke, VA. He is survived by his daughters Susan Turner of Burbank, CA, and Diane Turner of Burke, VA, and five grand-kitties. He was predeceased by his wife Marianne...

Richard W. Bild

Richard W. Bild

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Oberdan Otto

Oberdan Otto

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Arnold L. Grossberg

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

James Komarek

Jim Komarek founded his own chip design company, Creative Integrated Systems located in Irvine, CA. He ran it successfully for many years until he became ill in 2012. He then retired and died in Irvine in August of 2021. Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button...

John Stuart

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Min Chen

Min Chen

https://cmse.msu.edu/directory/faculty/min-chen/ Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link"...

Donald Stern

Donald Stern

Donald Stern (BS Physics 1958) died July 17,2021 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. In his senior year at Caltech Don was the President of Blacker House. After graduating from Caltech Don earned his PhD in Physics from U Wisconsin at Madison. After receiving his PhD, Don returned...

William L. Wise

William L. Wise

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Gary G. Christoph

Gary G. Christoph

On July 3, 2021, just 8 days after his 76th birthday, Gary Gordon Christoph flew his final flight into the sunset. Gary was an avid private pilot who loved punching holes in the clouds and greasing a landing, he collected butterflies and enjoyed solving complex...

Kenneth K. Tang

Kenneth K. Tang

Kenneth Kai-nan Tang, Class of 1948 (Engineering); died July 2, 2021, Pasadena, California.  Claremont High School, Class of 1944; Stanford University, MS 1949 (Mechanical Engineering); US Patent no. 3147823 (1964) and US Patent no. 3561224 (1967); USMC 1945-1946,...

Mason L. Williams, III

Mason L. Williams, III

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Charles K. Michener

Charles K. Michener

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...

Reginald W. Clemens

Reginald W. Clemens

Graduation Year:[ba_dual_button btn_alignment="center" btn_a_text="Go Back" btn_a_link="" btn_b_text="Home" btn_b_link="" button_gap="10px" _builder_version="4.25.2" _dynamic_attributes="btn_a_link,btn_b_link" _module_preset="default" custom_btn_a="on"...