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Marking the passing

Following are some of the members of the MIT community who passed away in 2003, listed by the date of death.

Jan. 29 - Professor Reginald E. Newell, a meteorologist whose research concentrated on global air pollution and on the energy, momentum and mass balances of the climate system.

Jan. 18 - Professor Emeritus Stanley Backer, an international leader in the field of fiber and polymer research, died at home in Newton at age 82.

Jan. 11 - Professor E. Eugene Larrabee of aeronautics and astronautics, known as "Mr. Propeller" in the human-powered aircraft community, died at 82.

Jan. 14 - A. Scheffer Lang, a founding member of the MIT Center for Transportation Studies and a longtime critic of traditional mass transit policies, died at the age of 75.

Jan. 27 - Francis "Jeff" Wylie, who wrote for Time, Life and other publications before joining MIT as director of public relations in the mid-1950s, died at 97.

April 11 - Alumnus Cecil H. Green, a worldwide philanthropist whose family name graces the tallest building on the MIT campus, died at the age of 102.

May 21 - Hermann Anton Haus, Institute Professor and one of the world's leading authorities on optical communications, died at age 77.

June 29 - Bernard A. Goldhirsh (S.B. 1961), who became interested in sailing while a student at MIT and founded and publishd Sail and Inc. magazines, died of complications from a brain tumor at age 63.

June 26 - Alumnus Ralph E. Cross, a pioneer in manufacturing engineering and the father of automation, died at age 93.

July 7 - Professor Emeritus Charles P. Kindleberger, an economic historian who was a key advisor on German reparations and a leading architect of the Marshall Plan after World War II, died at age 92 of a stroke.

July 10 - Imre Halasz, an internationally renowned architect, urban planner and teacher at MIT, died at his home in Boston at age 77 after a long illness.

July 18 - Professor Emeritus Norman C. Rasmussen, who made pioneering contributions to the field of nuclear energy risk assessment, died at 75.

Aug. 28 - Wilbur B. Davenport Jr., professor emeritus of electrical engineering and former department head who also held several leadership positions at Lincoln Laboratory, died at the age of 83.

Sept. 25 - Institute Professor Emeritus Franco Modigliani, who won the Nobel Prize in 1985 for his pioneering analyses of financial markets, died in his sleep at the age of 85.

Sept. 8 - I. Austin Kelly III, a devoted alumnus of MIT, died at age 100.

Oct. 6 - Retired professor Judson R. Baron, who won a Bronze Star as an infantryman during WWII and went on to become an expert in space flight, died at age 79 of cardiac arrest.

Oct. 21 - Luis Alberto Ferré (S.B. 1924), former governor of Puerto Rico and a staunch advocate of statehood for the territory, died in San Juan of complications following surgery at age 99.

Nov. 9 - Satoru Masamune, a professor of organic chemistry for 22 years, died of complications from cardiac arrest at age 75. He made significant contributions to the field of organic chemistry in the synthesis of natural products and the chemistry of small ring systems.

Nov. 9 - Professor Stephen Benton, inventor of the rainbow hologram and a pioneer in medical imaging and fine arts holography, died of brain cancer. He was 61.

Dec. 31 - Institute Professor Emeritus Arthur Robert von Hippel, who fled to the United States from Nazi Germany and became a leader in materials research, died at age 105.

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