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September 6, 2011, Volume 58, No. 02

Mr. Bauer, Wharton

Bauer

Leigh Bauer, adjunct professor in the department of legal studies and business ethics in the Wharton School for almost 50 years, passed away June 22 at age 73.

Mr. Bauer had been teaching at Wharton since 1962. Most recently, he taught Introduction to Law and the Legal Process. In addition, he was a managing partner at the law firm of Diamond, Polsky & Bauer, where he specialized in estate, gift and administration planning.

Praised for his teaching, Mr. Bauer had won the Whitney Award for Undergraduate Teaching and the David W. Hauck Award for Outstanding Teaching. He was named one of the most influential faculty and staff persons to the Class of 2008 in the Vision Yearbook 2008.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Bauer earned a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College in 1959 and a law degree from Penn in 1962.

Mr. Bauer is survived by his wife, Delores; children, Stephen L. Bauer and Elizabeth Montanari; stepson, Leonard Parks, Jr.; grandchildren, Will and Katie Montanari, Doug and Molly Bauer, Whis Grant and Aaron Parks; and a sister, Linda B. Glenn.

Contributions may be made to the Community Scholars Program at Germantown Friends School, www.germantownfriends.org/support

 

 

Mr. Dorrance, Trustee

Dorrance

Trustee G. Morris Dorrance, passed away August 11 at age 88. 

Mr. Dorrance became a Penn Trustee in 1979 and served as chairman of the Audit Committee. He also served on the Executive, Development, and Nominating Committees and the Long Range Planning Council. He was a Wharton School Overseer and a director of Wharton’s SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management. He sat on the Board of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and other medical related committees. He served on Penn’s 250th Anniversary Commission, and the committee that brought President Sheldon Hackney to Penn. An avid fundraiser, Mr. Dorrance participated in the 1980s Building Penn’s Future campaign and was a member of the President’s Council during the Campaign for Penn: Keeping Franklin’s Promise in the 1990s. He endowed the G. Morris Dorrance Endowed Scholarship and gave to many other areas of the University.

Following in the Penn footsteps of his father, George Morris Dorrance, M’1900, a longtime professor of maxillofacial surgery at the School of Dental Medicine, Mr. Dorrance received an undergraduate degree in economics in 1949 and his MBA in 1951.  

In 1969, Mr. Dorrance became the chairman of PNB and its parent company, CoreStates Financial Corporation. He is credited for pairing conservative banking practices with then-innovative services such as the MAC (Money Access Card) system. He retired in 1987. Mr. Dorrance was also a director of R.R. Donnelly & Sons Company, Penn Virginia Corporation, Rohm & Haas, and Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia.
Mr. Dorrance was a promoter of many of the Philadelphia region’s chief philanthropic organizations. He served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fox Chase Cancer Center and vice chairman of business leadership for Catholic Schools.

He is survived by his daughter, Mary; son, George, WG’79; sister, Emily Mayer; and grandchildren, Anastasia and Carter.

Donations may be made to the Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111, or to the Exuma Foundation Ltd., Box Ex 29111, George Town, Exuma, Bahamas.

 

Memorial and Conference: Dr. LaFleur

A memorial will be held for Dr. William R. LaFleur, professor of East Asian languages and civilizations, on Friday, September 23 at 3:30 p.m. in the Terrace Room in Claudia Cohen Hall. He died February 26, 2010 at the age of 73 (Almanac March 16, 2010).

Also, The One Who is Really Lost: A Conference in Honor of William R. LaFleur, will take place September 23-24. Details and registration information are posted on the Center for East Asian Studies’ website, www.ceas.sas.upenn.edu

 

Memorial: Dr. Sipe

A memorial for Dr. Lawrence Sipe, a professor in the Graduate School of Education, will be held September 19 from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in the Class of 1949 Auditorium at Houston Hall. Dr. Sipe died March 11 at the age of 61 (Almanac March 22, 2011). Please consider bringing a children’s book to be donated to a local library. Donations may also be made to the Dr. L. R. Sipe Scholarship Fund. RSVP by September 12 to Melissa Kapadi-Boti, melk@gse.upenn.edu

Dr. O'Hern, Dental Medicine

O'Hern

Dr. John Henry O’Hern, Jr., clinical professor of orthodontics in the School of Dental Medicine, passed away May 6; he was 85.

Dr. O’Hern graduated from Fordham College in 1949 and Penn Dental Medicine in 1953.

After earning his graduate degree from Penn Dental Medicine in 1955, Dr. O’Hern was appointed to the faculty. He remained there until he became ill several years ago. In addition, Dr. O’Hern also maintained a private practice in Red Bank, New Jersey.

He served as alumni coordinator and was a 2003 recipient of the Alumni Award of Merit from Penn Dental Medicine.

Dr. O’Hern is survived by his wife, Maureen Holahan, HUP’54; sons, Hugh, Paul and Henry III, C’79; daughters, Holly O’Hern Smith and Kate O’Hern Lyons, C’86; sisters, Eugenia Witterschein and Catharine O’Hern; and 13 grandchildren.

 

 

Ms. Perelman, Philanthropist

Ruth Perelman

Philanthropist Ruth Perelman passed away July 31 from pneumonia at the age of 90.

“Philadelphia has lost a most beloved and consummately gracious civic leader with the passing of Ruth Perelman,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “In our city’s centuries-long history, Mrs. Perelman and her husband, Raymond, have made a mark unlike any other.  We at the University of Pennsylvania—home of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine—have benefitted invaluably from her tireless generosity and that of Raymond and their family. Ruth’s generous spirit and strong commitment to education, medicine and culture in Philadelphia will be remembered for countless generations to come.”

In May, Mr. and Mrs. Perelman made an historic gift creating a permanent endowment for the School of Medicine, which was renamed the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. They were the driving force for the patient-centered experience in the state-of-the-art Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, which opened in 2008. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Perelman established the first endowed professorship devoted to an active, full-time clinician in 2005. They also hosted events on Penn Medicine’s behalf in Palm Beach.

“The Penn family and the City of Philadelphia have lost a gracious and wonderful benefactor,” said Dr. Arthur H. Rubenstein, former dean of the Perelman School of Medicine. “It has been a joy to know and work with Ruth over these many years, and I consider myself privileged to have been able to call her a friend. Her exceptional legacy of generosity will never be forgotten.”

Current Perelman School of Medicine Dean J. Larry Jameson, said, “Their extraordinary gift to the Perelman School of Medicine will make us a leader in improving health around the world, and I hope our efforts will be a fitting honor to Ruth’s memory.”

In addition to their on-going interest in health care, the Perelmans have made path-breaking gifts to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Kimmel Center, the Perelman Jewish Day School and many other Jewish cultural and welfare organizations. 

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Mrs. Perelman attended the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina.

Mrs. Perelman is survived by her husband and Penn Medicine trustee, Raymond, W’40; sons, Jeffrey, W’71, WG’73; Ronald, W’64, WG’66; sister, Phyllis Horton; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Gifts in her honor may be made online, http://alumni.med.upenn.edu/ruthperelmanmemorial.php, or by check, made out to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and noting “Ruth Perelman” on the memo line. Send to: Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3309.

 

Mr. Wolfman, Law

Wolfman

Bernard Wolfman, former dean of the Penn Law School, died August 20. He was 87. 

A renowned scholar of tax law and a leading expert on professional responsibility and ethics for lawyers, Mr. Wolfman earned his AB in political science in 1946 and JD in 1948 from Penn. He practiced law for 15 years at the Philadelphia firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen before beginning a career in legal academia. 

In 1963, after serving for three years as an adjunct professor while he was still in private practice, Mr. Wolfman joined the Penn Law faculty full-time as the Kenneth W. Gemmill Professor of Tax Law and Tax Policy. He remained at the Law School through 1975, including serving as dean from 1970 to 1975. Following his deanship, he spent a year at the Center for Advanced Study at Stanford University before joining the Harvard faculty in 1976 as the Fessenden Professor of Law. 

As dean of Penn Law, Mr. Wolfman oversaw the growth of the Penn Law faculty, as well as major curricular changes. During his tenure, clinical courses, which were beginning to emerge in American legal education, were added to Penn Law’s curriculum, and there was increased emphasis on student writing. 

Mr. Wolfman wrote and co-wrote dozens of articles and numerous books, including Dissent Without Opinion: The Behavior of Justice William O. Douglas in Federal Tax Cases; Federal Income Taxation of Corporate Enterprise; Ethical Problems in Federal Tax Practice, and Standards of Tax Practice.

Throughout his years in academia, Mr. Wolfman remained active as a practitioner, serving as an expert for both private and non-profit clients. In 2003, he served as senior adviser to the assistant attorney general for the Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice. He was a consultant on tax policy with the U.S. Treasury Department from 1963 to 1968 and again from 1977 to 1980. From 1974-1994, he served as a consultant to the American Law Institute’s Federal Income Tax Project, where he made recommendations for structural legislative change. He also served as special consultant to Iran/Contra Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh from 1987 to 1989.

Mr. Wolfman served on many councils of the American Bar Association, including the section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities. He was also president of the Federal Tax Institute of New England and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the American College of Tax Counsel.

Mr. Wolfman is survived by his wife, Toni Wolfman; children, Jonathan, Brian, Dina Wolfman Baker, Jeffrey Braemer and David Braemer; sister, Lila Booth; 10 grandchildren; and nieces, nephews and cousins. 

Contributions may be made to the Greater Boston Legal Services or to Penn Law: Andy Maynard, Gift Processor; University of Pennsylvania Law School, 3400 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104; with checks made out to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and a note to indicate that the gift is for the Wolfman fund.

 

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 - September 6, 2011, Volume 58, No. 02