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March 15, 2011, Volume 57, No. 25

Dr. Bora, Orthopaedic Surgery

Bora

Dr. F. William Bora, Jr., professor emeritus of orthopaedic surgery in the School of Medicine, passed away February 23; he was 82.

Dr. Bora began teaching at Penn in 1962 as an instructor and remained on the faculty until his retirement in 1997. He also served as chief of hand surgery, was on staff at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia and had an orthopaedic surgery practice in Yeadon.

He is credited with performing the second hand-reattachment surgery in the country in 1965, just two months after another surgeon in North Carolina performed the first.

Dr. Bora authored the book The Pediatric Upper Extremity: Diagnosis and Management and was editor of the Journal of Hand Surgery in the early 1990s.

A native of Summit, New Jersey, Dr. Bora earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a medical degree from New York Medical College.

Dr. Bora is survived by his wife, Ann; sons, Christian R. “Bobby,” F. William III and Brian; daughters, Tammara and Fiona; and seven grandchildren.

 

 

Ms. Cooper, Wharton Executive Ed.

Cooper

Sheila M. Cooper, associate director in Wharton Executive Education, died February 15 at age 57.

Ms. Cooper joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 as a donor relations administrator in Wharton External Affairs, and transferred to Wharton Executive Education in 1992. As associate director of delivery and operations she had managerial responsibilities for a portfolio of open enrollment programs, including the Executive Development Program, and oversaw the space planning functions for both the Steinberg Conference Center and the Wharton West facility in San Francisco, CA. Over the years, Ms. Cooper had fulfilled a number of roles including program manager of Wharton Direct, the School’s distributed learning initiative and was the assistant director for the launch and delivery of the first Wharton Fellows programs in 2000-2001 in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Barcelona and Helsinki.

Prior to joining Wharton, Ms. Cooper was an entrepreneur as the sole owner of a successful landscape design business with operations throughout the Philadelphia region. She studied horticulture and landscape design at the Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion, PA, and at Temple University’s Ambler campus.

Ms. Cooper is survived by two brothers, John and Bob Wilson. A memorial was held on February 22 at Jon M. Huntsman Hall. 

Letters and cards can be sent to “Team Sheila” at the Steinberg Conference Center, 255 South 38th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Morris Arboretum, www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum/giving.shtml

 

Mrs. Ortner, Ortner Center

Ortner

Evelyn Ortner, founding donor of the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice, passed away March 5 from leukemia at age 83.

In 2004, Mrs. Ortner and her husband, Robert, provided an endowment for the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence, the first domestic violence learning center at an academic institution in the country. The Center addresses domestic violence education, policy, practice, and research.

Previously, Mrs. Ortner was the founder and executive director of the Unity Group, Inc., a nonprofit advocacy organization for battered women and their dependent children. It disbanded in 2003 after Mrs. Ortner became ill.

During the 1980s, Mrs. Ortner was special adviser to and speechwriter for the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and also represented HHS on women’s issues at the White House.

In recognition of her dedication to victims’ rights, Mrs. Ortner received a commendation from President Bill Clinton, a certificate of appreciation from the Department of Justice, the New Jersey Governor’s Volunteer Award for Human Needs and the Crystal Stair Award from Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2).

Mrs. Ortner earned a master of arts from Drew University.

Mrs. Ortner is survived by her husband, Robert Ortner, W’49; children, Peter and Nicole; and a brother, Edward Jacobs.

Contributions may be made to the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center, c/o SP2, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

 

Dr. Sagi, Sociology

Sagi

Dr. Philip Sagi, professor emeritus of sociology in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, died of a heart attack on February 17 at age 86.

After 26 years in the department of sociology where he taught demography and social statistics, Dr. Sagi retired in 1988.
Prior to coming to Penn, he was a research associate at Princeton University’s Office of Population Research.  

Born in New York City, Dr. Sagi graduated from Stuyvesant High School and then attended the University of Wisconsin, leaving to serve in WWII from 1943 until 1945 as a gunner on a B-24 bomber, flying 35 missions in the European Theater. He then returned to Wisconsin where he completed a bachelor of philosophy degree in 1949 and a master’s degree in mathematical statistics in 1951. He earned his PhD in sociology from University of Minnesota in 1956, while working there as a research assistant in the department of sociology on a Navy grant to study small group interactions.

Dr. Sagi had been a member and board member of the American Statistical Association. He consulted with social science division of the National Science Foundation. He was published in many academic journals including Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences; Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, and American Sociological Review.

Dr. Sagi is survived by his wife, Rita; son, Paul and daughter-in-law, Rokiah.

 

 

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 - March 15, 2011, Volume 57, No. 25