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May 25, 2010, Volume 56, No. 34

Dr. Addonizio, Surgery

Addonizio

Dr. V. Paul Addonizio, former faculty member in the School of Medicine, passed away May 5 from acute myeloid leukemia at age 62.

At Penn, Dr. Addonizio was appointed assistant professor of surgery in 1985 and promoted to associate professor in 1987. He was the 1986 recipient of the surgery department’s Resident’s Faculty Teaching Award.

Specializing in adult cardiac surgery, Dr. Addonizio then left for Temple University, serving on its hospital staff until 1998 and on the faculty in its School of Medicine until 2005. Most recently, he was the surgical director of the Porter Institute for Valvular Heart Disease at Abington Memorial Hospital since its opening in 2006 and since 1996, had been chief of the division of cardiac surgery at Abington Memorial.

Dr. Addonizio earned his bachelor’s degree in biology at New York University and his medical degree from Cornell University in 1974.

Dr. Addonizio is survived by his wife, Susan Williams; son, Paul; daughter, Elizabeth; his mother, Frances; and a sister.

Contributions may be sent to the Porter Institute for Valvular Heart Disease, Abington Memorial Hospital, 1200 Old York Rd., Abington, PA 19001.

 

Dr. Burns, English

Dr. Landon C. Burns, former assistant professor of English, passed away April 15; he was 80.

After earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Yale University, Dr. Burns joined the faculty of Penn’s department of English where he taught until the late 1960s. He is the 1964 recipient of the faculty award given by the Friars Society.

He went on to serve as dean and provost at Washington College for two years and then was a professor of English at Pennsylvania State University for 20 years.

Dr. Burns is survived by his companion, Russell Fulton; and a cousin.

 

Mr. Deck, Penn Libraries

Howard S. Deck, a retired support staff member of the Penn Libraries, passed away February 15 at the age of 70.

Coming to Penn in 1965, Mr. Deck worked as a library service assistant in the Towne Scientific Library and then the Biomedical Library until he took a leave of absence in 1984 to serve as a representative of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) District Council 47. He retired in 2008.

Mr. Deck is credited for starting the first union for employees of the Penn Libraries and served as its president for many years. Local 590, which was chartered by the AFSCME, signed its first contract in 1969. Noted as an “exemplary leader” by colleagues, Mr. Deck’s leadership helped other unions including the Local 54 for Dining Services.

A native of Reading, PA, Mr. Deck earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Albright College.

Mr. Deck is survived by his partner, Marvin Brown.

 

Dr. Greenberg, Oriental Studies

Greenberg

Dr. Moshe Greenberg, former faculty member in the department of Oriental Studies, passed away May 15 at the age of 81.

Born in Philadelphia, Dr. Greenberg received his BA and PhD degrees from Penn in 1949 and 1954, respectively. He taught Biblical Studies here until 1970. He held the A.M. Ellis Chair in Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures from 1965-1970, chaired the department of Oriental Studies (now Near Eastern and Languages and Civilizations) in the late sixties, and served as the first director of Penn’s Center for the Study of the Modern Near East (now the Middle East Center).

Dr. Greenberg won the Danforth Foundation’s Harbison Prize, which was presented to him at the White House in 1968.

From 1970-1996, Dr. Greenberg served on the faculty at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and served as chair of its Bible department.

According to Dr. Jeffrey Tigay, Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, “Dr. Greenberg has a long and distinguished list of publications, many of which are required readings in Penn’s undergraduate and graduate courses.”

Among his many honors, Dr. Greenberg received an honorary degree from Penn in 1996. In 1994 the State of Israel awarded him the Israel Prize in Bible, the most distinguished academic award in Israel. 

He is survived by his wife, Evelyn; sons, Raphael, Ethan and Joel; brother, Daniel; and nine grandchildren.

 

Mr. Stockton, Wharton

Stockton

John M. Stockton, a retired professor in the Wharton School, passed away May 2 at age 86.

Mr. Stockton became a lecturer at Wharton in 1953 and a full professor in 1973. He served as chair of the business law department—now the department of legal studies and business ethics—from 1963 to 1971. He retired in 1989, but continued to teach until 1995.

He contributed to the 1965 book Introduction to Law and the Legal Process.

Prior to coming to Penn, he joined the Washington staff of Sen. John Sparkman of Alabama, the unsuccessful 1952 Democratic candidate for vice president.

Mr. Stockton earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Alabama. He then earned a master’s degree in law from George Washington University.

Mr. Stockton is survived by his wife, Terry-Dayle; sons, Clay, Blair, William, and John B.; daughters, Katherine and Jean; 11 grandchildren; and a sister.

Memorial contributions may be made to The ARC of Chester County (www.arcofchestercounty.org); The Southern Poverty Law Center at www.splcenter.org; or the Exeter Ambulance Association (www.exeterambulance.org).

 

Mr. Thoumsin, Earth Sciences

S. Francis Thoumsin

S. Francis Thoumsin, Jr., former lecturer in the department now known as earth and environmental science, passed away May 6 at age 91.

A geologist, Mr. Thoumsin taught off and on at Penn for four decades beginning in 1953 with the department of earth sciences, but he retired from the Environmental Protection Agency.

An alumnus of Penn, he earned his BA in 1941 and a MS in earth sciences a year later.

Mr. Thoumsin is survived by his wife, Helen; children, Janet E. Albrycht and C. Pierre Thoumsin; grandchildren, Abigail Wilson, Chelsea Thoumsin, Micah Albrycht and Kelli Thoumsin.

 

 

To Report A Death

Almanac appreciates being informed of the deaths of current and former faculty and staff members, students, and other members of the University community.

However, notices of alumni deaths should be directed to the Alumni Records Office at Room 545, Franklin Building, (215) 898-8136 or e-mail record@ben.dev.upenn.edu.

 

Almanac - May 25, 2010, Volume 56, No. 34