Passings
To share a recent passing of a member of the Pitt community, Please submit a request to the Pittwire editorial staff. Publicly available obituaries of current and former faculty and staff, students, and alumni will be considered for inclusion in Pittwire Passings.
Bernard Fisher advanced breast cancer research while serving in School of Medicine
Bernard Fisher, pioneering breast cancer researcher and a distinguished service professor in the School of Medicine, died on Oct. 16, 2019, at 101.
Fisher advanced the understanding of the clinical biology of breast cancer and pioneered the design and implementation of large-scale multi-institutional randomized clinical trials.
Jan Smith was the ‘conscience and soul’ of anesthesiology department
Jan Smith—likely the longest-serving faculty member in the School of Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, who worked in the greatest number of Pitt and UPMC medical facilities locally and worldwide—died Sept. 6, 2019.
His departmental colleague Mark Hudson says Smith “was always considered the conscience and soul of the department.”
Doerfler brought real-world expertise to teaching dental residents
Richard Doerfler, a practicing orthodontist whose teaching took students from anatomy to the business of practicing dentistry, died Sept. 18, 2019.
Doerfler earned his undergraduate degree from St. Vincent College in 1982 and graduated from Pitt’s School of Dental Medicine in 1986, where he was a teaching assistant. In addition, he received master’s degrees in anthropology and anatomy from Pitt, as well as a Master of Dental Science in Orthodontics degree from the dental school here.
Biology lecturer Bledsoe was avian expert and honored teacher
Anthony Bledsoe, a 31-year biological sciences department lecturer and accomplished avian expert, died Sept. 14, 2019.
“Tony was truly beloved by his students,” said his long-time departmental colleague, Walter Carson. “He was a spectacular ornithologist.”
Rosemary Scully helped put Pitt Physical Therapy on the map
Rosemary Scully, former chair and associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, passed away August 7, 2019, in Sun City West, Ariz., where she resided after her retirement.
She joined the physical therapy faculty in 1972 and remained until 1992 when she retired. She served several in leadership roles including as chair and worked continuously to enhance physical therapy training at Pitt.
Miroslav Klain worked on many projects during 40 years in Anesthesiology
Miroslav Klain, professor emeritus in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, died on May 18, 2019.
Klain was born in 1927 in Czechoslovakia. He trained as a physician at Charles University in Prague (MUDr., 1951) and earned a PhD as well. He began his medical career as a cardiac surgeon.
Jere Gallagher brought energy as associate dean of Education
Jere Gallagher, former associate dean in the School of Education known for her dedication and hard work in a sometimes-unheralded job, died Aug. 20, 2019, at 70.
John Jakicic, current chair of the school department where Gallagher was a faculty member—Health and Physical Activity—was a graduate student in the early 1990s and remembered Gallagher as a professor. “Talk about high energy!” he said. “Sure, there was a lecture, but she tried to get students actively engaged in their learning process, with hands-on activity, far before that became the way (of education generally).”
Audrey Champagne was a pioneer at LRDC
Audrey B. Champagne, a pioneer who studied science and mathematics learning at the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC), died Aug. 14, 2019, at 84.
Her former colleague Richard Goldman, who met Champagne when she joined the School of Education as a lecturer in 1968, said, “Audrey is the smartest person I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve worked with a lot of smart people.
Crock was ‘consummate cardiologist and an outstanding educator’
Frederick W. Crock, an echocardiologist teaching in the School of Medicine who died Aug. 16, 2019, is recalled by his supervisory colleague Jenifer E. Lee as “a consummate cardiologist and an outstanding educator.”
Lee, medicine faculty member and director of medical student education in the Division of Cardiology, remembered Crock as “Superman—that’s all I have to say. The bottom line is, Fred was perfect.”
Cohen remembered for his love of teaching math and his tennis prowess
Henry B. Cohen, a Department of Mathematics faculty member whose interests ranged from teaching theory to inspiring young children to value math, died July 29, 2019.
A graduate of Columbia University, Cohen was a Pitt professor for 40 years. As a researcher, he was “a pure analyst working in infinite dimensional spaces,” recalled his departmental colleague Juan Manfredi in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. But Cohen also was noted for taking his love of mathematics to middle-school and elementary children as Professor Puzzle.
‘Dean Jeanne’ kept arts and sciences running as assistant to dean
Jeanne Martin, known for her ability to deal effectively with all 31 Pitt arts and sciences departments as top assistant to several deans, died on July 29, 2019, just a few months before her 100th birthday.
In a note to Martin written by then-Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Dean Jerome Rosenberg during his tenure (1970-1986), he told her: “When people in other divisions speak wistfully of the smoothness with which things run in 1001 (Cathedral of Learning), they are paying tribute to you. I don’t need their judgment, however, because I know full well how valuable a person you are. I can’t imagine anybody who would have your flair for organizing a very complex office operation, solving the most delicate interpersonal problems among a large staff, anticipating and solving all problems affecting me personally and professionally, and maintaining a gentle disposition through all of this.”
Daniel Gallagher was dedicated to custodial supervisor job
Daniel H. “Sluggo” Gallagher, a custodial supervisor in Facilities Management, died July 14, 2019.
Randy Schmotzer, a former custodial supervisor and now manager of special events in athletics, recalls Gallagher starting at Pitt in the fall of 2008: “He was dedicated, he loved his job, and he always gave 110 percent. He was fair and he wouldn’t ask you to do anything he wouldn’t do—but when he asked you to do it, he expected you to do it right. If you didn’t know how to do it, he would train you.”
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