Deaths |
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November 26, 2013, Volume 60, No. 15
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Dr. Greene, Obstetrics & Gynecology
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Dr. John W. Greene, former assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the School of Medicine, died November 17 at age 87.
After serving in the US Army, Dr. Greene earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1948. He began his career at the University of Pennsylvania, first earning his medical degree in 1952 and then completing his internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at HUP. After finishing a fellowship in endocrinology, Dr. Greene was appointed to the faculty in 1960 where he worked on research that involved monitoring of fetuses of diabetic mothers.
He left Penn in 1963 to set up research, teaching and clinical facilities for obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine, which opened in 1960. He chaired the department until his retirement in 1990.
Dr. Greene authored more than 70 scientific papers and five books. He was an examiner for both the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the National Board of Medical Examiners. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Frontier Nursing Service and the board of directors of the Planned Parenthood Association of Lexington, Kentucky.
Dr. Greene is survived by his wife, Eugenie; daughters, Nonnie Riney, Susan Abner and Isobel Chewning; and six grandchildren. |
Dr. Taskar, Computer and Information Science
Dr. Ben Taskar, former associate professor in the department of computer and information science at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, died of an apparent heart attack on November 17, in Seattle, at the age of 36.
Dr. Taskar came to Penn in 2007 and was the Magerman Term Assistant Professor until his promotion in 2012. He was the founding co-director of the Penn Research in Machine Learning (PRIML) Center and held a secondary appointment in the department of statistics at the Wharton School.
He left Penn last year and became the Boeing Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington.
Dr. Taskar was widely recognized and honored for his groundbreaking research in machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision, receiving the Sloan, ONR Young Investigator (Almanac April 27, 2010) and NSF CAREER (Almanac July 12, 2011) awards and was named a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Annenberg Center for Public Policy in 2011.
“He was an inspiring teacher, advisor and mentor beloved by his students and colleagues. With his brilliance, warmth and kindness, Ben left a deep impression on everyone who knew him,” said Dr. Sampath Kannan, chair of the department of computer and information science.
At Penn, his contributions to the CIS department, the GRASP Laboratory, the statistics department and beyond had an enormous impact.
Dr. Taskar received his bachelor’s, master’s and PhD from Stanford University.
Dr. Taskar is survived by his wife, Anat Caspi; daughter, Aviv Taskar; his parents, Mark and Tsilya Taskar and his sister, Alina Beyer.
If you would like to share memories, pictures and/or contribute to the Ben Taskar Family Benefit Fund, visit bentaskar.com
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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. Call (215) 898-5274 or email almanac@upenn.edu
However, notices of alumni deaths should be directed to the Alumni Records Office at Room 517, Franklin Building, (215) 898-8136 or email record@ben.dev.upenn.edu |