Obituaries

Prof. Emerita Mary-Lou Pardue, a cellular and molecular biologist whose work “formed the foundation for key advancements and discoveries in understanding the structure of chromosomes,” has died at age 90, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Pardue “was a role model of what women in science can be at a time when there weren’t a lot of those, and a trailblazer as a woman,” emphasizes Ky Lowenhaupt, manager of the Biophysical Instrumentation Facility at MIT, “but also a trailblazer as a scientist who didn’t do things along the path that other people took.”

Harrison White '50, PhD '55, “a theoretical physicist-turned-sociologist who upended the study of human relations and society” has died at age 94, reports Michael Rosenwald for The New York Times. “With his background in physics, Professor White viewed humans as nodes within social networks,” writes Rosenwald. “Those networks operated in complex ways that shaped economic mobility, financial markets, language and other social phenomena.”

C. Gordon Bell ’57, SM 57 was a “computer pioneer always looking ten steps ahead and building that version of the world,” writes Gizmodo’s Matt Novak. Bell was, “a true visionary in the world of computing who helped design some of the first minicomputers in the 1960s," Novak adds. 

Called the “Frank Lloyd Wright of computers,” technology visionary C. Gordon Bell ’57, SM '57, “the master architect in the effort to create smaller, affordable, interactive computers that could be clustered into a network,” has died. “He was among a handful of influential engineers whose designs formed the vital bridge between the room-size models of the mainframe era and the advent of the personal computer,” notes Glenn Rifkin for The New York Times. 

Alex Viega of the Associated Press reports on the death of former MIT Prof. James Simons '58, a life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation and “a renowned mathematician and pioneering investor who built a fortune on Wall Street and then became one of the nation’s biggest philanthropists.” Simons and his wife Marilyn co-founded the Simons Foundation, whose president said, “Jim was an exceptional leader who did transformative work in mathematics and developed a world-leading investment company.” 

Gabriel Klein MBA '18 – senior director at EY-Parthenon, and a “beloved husband, son, brother, friend and colleague” – has died at the age of 35, reports Jeremy C. Fox for The Boston Globe. “He taught me what it meant to be a good person, to be a mensch,” says Gabriel’s brother, Noah Klein. “He taught me that you have to always be a loyal friend, and you always have to be a good son, and that means putting other people in front of yourself.”

Prof. Edward Roberts, one of the area’s “most influential pioneers in entrepreneurship” known for his work “encouraging startups and increasing MIT’s role in the tech industry ecosystem,” has died at 88, reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe. “There’s this narrative that you’re born to be an entrepreneur, and he did this research and debunked that,” explains Prof. Bill Aulet. “It’s impossible to go into entrepreneurship, especially in Boston, but even globally, without finding his influences.”

Lynn Yamada Davis '77, a TikTok creator known as “the internet’s grandma” for sharing her “quirky, educational cooking content,” has died at age 77, reports Morgan Sung for TechCrunch. “Before she was a content creator, Davis was an accomplished engineer — a feat for women of color at the time,” writes Sung.

Lynn Yamada Davis '77, “a TikTok creator who brought joy to millions of people with her zany style and cooking tips on her account, Cooking With Lynja,” has died at 67, writes Claire Moses for The New York Times. Before becoming a TikTok star, Davis “had this whole chapter as a groundbreaking female engineer, and she was very proud of that,” her daughter Hannah Shofet explained. Her son, Sean Davis noted that the final chapter of her life spent travelling the world, meeting people and cooking and eating amazing food was “exactly how she would have wanted it to be written.”

The Economist spotlights the life of Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Solow, a Nobel laureate whose work in growth theory “added both to national spending and the economy’s productive capacity.” The Economist notes that: “the MIT culture he embodied disdained hierarchy, cherished collegial lunches and made time for students, many of whom became illustrious friends.”

Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Solow, recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in economic growth theory, has died at age 99, reports Austen Hufford for Wall Street Journal.  “Heinstilled in the field of economics a focus on turning complex issues into simple formulas, allowing even freshman in college to grasp and debate important topics,” writes Hufford.

Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Solow, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Economics “for exploring the impact of technology on economic growth, work that spawned a wider understanding of what drives the expansion of industrial economics,” has died age 99, reports Edward Cowan for The Washington Post. “The strong role of technological progress identified by Dr. Solow contributed to a greater emphasis by governments on higher education and technological research,” writes Cowan.

Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Solow, a recipient of the 1987 Nobel Economics Prize who created a theoretical framework for growth theory – the branch of economics “which studies those factors that allow for increased production and improvements in economic welfare” – has died at age 99, reports Mike Feeney for The Boston Globe. “Dr. Solow was as celebrated among economists for who he was as for what he did,” writes Feeney. “His public-spiritedness, lucid writing, and sparkling, often self-deprecating wit made him a much-loved figure.”

Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Solow, a Nobel laureate whose work on economic growth became the model by which economists “came to practice their craft,” has died at age 99, reports Robert D. Hershey Jr., for The New York Times. Solow’s “work demonstrated the power of bringing mathematics to bear on important economic debates and simplifying the analysis by focusing on a small number of variables at a time,” writes Hershey.

Prof. Emerita Evelyn Fox Keller, whose “studies on gender and science, the role of language in shaping how we see and study the world,” and analysis of key concepts in modern biology contributed to the history and philosophy of modern biology, has died at age 87, reports Marga Vicedo for Nature. Keller “proposed abandoning the idea that genes are master molecules that provide the blueprints for and direct the development of an organism,” writes Vicedo. Keller also showed how language, including people’s choice of metaphors, influences the directions of scientific research.”