Farewell
Ernest Kuh, dean, professor emeritus and an internationally renowned expert in electronic circuit theory, died in June. He was 86. Kuh joined the Berkeley faculty in 1956 and made pioneering contributions in active and passive circuit theory, electronic design automation of integrated circuits and engineering education. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Kuh authored or co-authored six textbooks and several hundred research papers — all while mentoring several generations of graduate students. He also served as chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from 1968 to 1972 and then as dean of the college from 1973 to 1980. During this time, he raised funds for the Bechtel Engineering Center, formalized the Berkeley Engineering Fund and started an industrial liaison program. In 1992, Kuh became a professor emeritus. With his wife, Bettine, he endowed the Ernest S. Kuh Distinguished Lecture Series in 2012 to bring notable scientists and engineers to campus. “Ernest Kuh was instrumental in establishing the College of Engineering as a world leader in research, teaching and public service,” says Dean S. Shankar Sastry. “His legacy will shape our influence and impact for years to come.”Floraine Berthouzoz (Ph.D.’13 EECS) died in August. She was a research scientist in Adobe Research’s Creative Technologies Lab specializing in computer graphics and computer-human interaction. At Berkeley, she co-founded CS KickStart, a student-run enrichment program designed to close the gender gap in computer science.
Read more: Ernest S. Kuh, Berkeley Engineering professor and dean emeritus, 1928–2015
Martin Graham, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences, died in March. Graham received his Ph.D. from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1952 and began his academic career at Rice University. In 1966, he joined Berkeley’s electrical engineering and computer science department, where he worked as a professor until his retirement in 1993. He served as associate director of the computer center from 1966 to 1968, chair of computer science from 1970 to 1972 and secretary of the academic senate from 1978 to 1980. His research interests included computer systems, medical instrumentation systems and electrocardiogram analysis.
Henry Miedema (B.S.’61, M.S.’63 CE) died in September 2014 at the age of 75. Miedema worked at Shell Oil Company and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and was district engineer for the Santa Margarita Water District and the Santiago County Water District. He also worked for private engineering consulting firms, and, in 2002, formed his own consulting business. Over the course of his career, he authored and co-authored many articles, which were published in a range of civil engineering journals. He also served for many years as a member of the Berkeley Engineering Fund Board of Directors. In 1997, he and his wife created the Henry and Joyce Miedema Chair in civil engineering, which provides support for research or teaching in the area of California water issues.
Stanley Prussin, a nuclear engineering professor for 49 years, died in August. Author of a widely used text, Nuclear Physics for Applications: A Model Approach, Prussin was internationally recognized in nuclear physics, chemistry and instrumentation. After the 9/11 attacks, his research turned toward nuclear nonproliferation and pioneering work in nuclear forensics. He earned degrees in chemistry from MIT and the University of Michigan and completed postdoctoral work at the Berkeley Lab before joining the Berkeley faculty.
David T. Swanson (B.S.’56 CE) died in March. He designed and built bridges for the state of California for 12 years, and then worked in the private sector, where he was a pioneer in post-tensioned concrete. He earned many industry honors, was granted numerous patents and served as president of the American Segmental Bridge Institute.
Victor Zackay (B.S.’47, M.S.’48, Ph.D.’52 MSE), professor emeritus of materials science and engineering, died in March at the age of 94.
He joined the Berkeley faculty in 1962, later serving as associate dean of the college and associate director for research at the Berkeley Lab. He developed new kinds of superconducting components with high transition temperatures and new ultra-high strength steels. He also consulted on projects with industry partners, including Johnson & Johnson and Gillette. After 17 years at the university, he retired early to found Materials and Methods, where he worked until his retirement in 1989. During his academic and industrial careers, he published over 100 papers and received numerous honors and awards.
