Farewell
Michael Athans (B.S.’58, M.S.’59, Ph.D.’61 EECS) died in May at the age of 83. A pioneer in the field of control theory, he was a professor of electrical engineering at MIT for 34 years. He was also the director of the MIT Electronic Systems Laboratory, an award-winning educator and the co-author of three books.
William Gianelli (B.S.’41 CE) died in March at the age of 101. Following graduation, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II, rising to the rank of major. Considered one of California’s pioneering leaders in civil engineering, he served as director of California’s Department of Water Resources in the 1960s and 1970s to build a then-unprecedented state water and power storage and delivery system. He was later appointed as assistant secretary of the Army, chair of the Panama Canal Commission and awarded the Hoover Medal.
Arthur Gill (Ph.D.’59 EECS), professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences, died in March at the age of 89. He was a faculty member from 1959–91, served as the college’s assistant dean for undergraduate affairs from 1981–91 and conducted research with the Electronics Research Laboratory. The author of several books and numerous journal articles, he taught courses and supervised research in network analysis and synthesis, communication theory, system theory and computer science.
Eliahu Jury, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences, died in September at the age of 97. During his 28 years at Berkeley, he made groundbreaking contributions to the field of discrete-time systems and control, including the Jury stability table, the theory of inners and his book, “Theory and Application of the Z-Transform Method.”
Edward Rice (B.S.’49, M.S.’51 CE) died in May at the age of 94. He attended Berkeley in the early 1940s but left to join the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After graduating, he co-founded T.Y. Lin and Associates in 1952, where he served as president for 17 years, then founded CTS Cement Manufacturing Corp in 1975. He held 27 patents in cement and concrete technologies and was the inventor of the single-strand post-tensioning system. An adjunct professor of materials science and engineering at UCLA from 1986–90, he was recognized as a UC Berkeley Distinguished Engineering Alumnus in 1987.
Nian Roberts (B.S.’50 CE) died in May at the age of 92. Following graduation, he served in the Korean War, eventually becoming a captain. He also had a long engineering career at A. Teichert and Son, playing a key role in the construction of major projects throughout California and Nevada.
Timothy Sennott (M.S.’14 ME) died in January at the age of 34. At Berkeley, he developed an engine design that delivers emission-free electricity from natural gas or hydrogen, later co-founding Noble Thermodynamic Systems to commercialize the technology. He was also a data scientist at DNV GL.
Paul Spencer (M.S.’77 MSE) died in December at the age of 97. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and served in the United States Air Force for the next 34 years, where he broke the sound barrier three times in an F-111 jet. After retiring as a full colonel in 1974, he earned his master’s degree at Berkeley. He then worked as a research scientist and, later, as a principal development engineer at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Daniel Kaye Stasko (B.S.’61 ME) died in May at the age of 87. Before enrolling at Berkeley, he served in the U.S. Army for three years during the Korean War. Following graduation, he worked at American Standard, then joined California & Hawaiian Sugar Company, where he worked for 33 years.
Charles Tateosian (B.S.’47 ME) died in March at the age of 97. During World War II, he left Berkeley and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving as a lieutenant. Upon graduating, he embarked on a 40-year career with Pacific Gas & Electric, where he played a key role in bringing natural gas to California. He also worked as a consultant with Gas System Engineering.
Donald Tuttle (M.S.’65 CE) died in May at the of age 81. After working as a coastal engineer, he completed a second bachelor’s degree in environmental science at California State University, Humboldt. He then worked as an environmental services manager in Humboldt County for 31 years, setting the requirements for environmental permitting and developing an extensive environmental database for the county.
Richard White, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences, died in August at the age of 90. He joined the faculty in 1962 and was most recognized for his research on acoustic properties at the micro-scale, which contributed to the development of ever-smaller sensors and semiconductors. He also invented the interdigital transducer. In 1986, he and Richard Muller established the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, which helped launch the field of micro-electromechanical systems. He authored or co-authored more than 90 research papers, co-founded the Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education and was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, among many other honors.
Douglas Wolcott (B.S.’57 Agricultural Engineering) died in September at the age of 89. He had a long career with Chevron, eventually becoming president of Chevron Shipping, where he oversaw the merger the Gulf Oil and Chevron Marine operations, as well as the fleet’s operations during the Persian Gulf War. He also served as the first chair of the Marine Preservation Association and was a board member of several global shipping organizations.
Robert Wu (B.S.’53 EECS) died in September at the age of 88. As a leading researcher in China, he pioneered the development of first-generation transistors, microcomputers and integrated circuits. He later returned to the United States, where he worked at the HP Research Institute, helped establish HP China and then co-founded Silicon Magic Semiconductor. He also founded and chaired the U.S.-China Green Energy Council.
