Vol. 18, No. 27	April 15, 1999

Tributes given for seven members of UD community

Memorial tributes to seven members of the University community were presented at the semiannual General Faculty Meeting on Monday.

Those honored by their colleagues were Lester W. Chadwick, associate professor of accounting; Hugh Campbell, administrator of research information systems; Robert Hogan, retired professor of English; Dana J. Johnson, dean of the College of Business and Economics; James McLaren, professor emeritus of foreign languages and literatures; Gerald Milton Straka, retired professor of history; and Col. Daniel Norman Sundt, retired professor of mathematics;

Bob Paretta said that Lester W. Chadwick's "first instinct was to help you, and if he could not do that, his next instinct was to make you laugh." Dr. Chadwick, who died last November at age 55, was recalled as an outstanding teacher who was famous for his dedication to students, opening his home every Thanksgiving to any student who had no place to celebrate the holiday.

Remembering his colleague as "tall and fit, walking down the corridor in Purnell Hall, wearing his bedroom slippers," Stanley Schwartz wrote that "Les Chadwick was a rare man who not only made a good first impression, but who, even after 25 years, left a good impression."

The late Hugh P. Campbell, who died March 15, was a quiet yet effective administrator and teacher with insightful proposals for improving University systems, Costel D. Denson, research office, said, adding that he approached truly formidable projects with "intelligence, humor and grace." A Scotsman, Dr. Campbell came to Delaware as a graduate student, completing his doctorate in 1995 in medieval and Renaissance literature. In addition to his work developing systems for grant management, he taught evening courses in writing and English literature at Widener University. He was 35.

"Scholar, playwright, editor, publisher, theatrical director, producer, actor, Fulbright lecturer, teacher and mentor to scores of younger writers," the late Robert Hogan was "a complete man of letters," according to colleague Jay Halio. When he came to Delaware in 1970, he brought with him the Proscenium Press, which he founded, as well as the Journal of Irish Literature, which he also founded and edited. The author of a five-volume work on Irish drama, he also received the Irish Life Drama Award for his outstanding play based on the life of Sean O'Casey, The Old Man Says No. More than a dozen of his plays were professionally produced and, as publisher, Prof. Hogan was responsible for more than 90 volumes. Dr. Hogan's own scholarship was "extensive and significant," Halio said, pointing out that Dr. Hogan compiled the Dictionary of Irish Literature, now in its second revised and enlarged edition. "Speaking for all his friends and colleagues," Halio quoted Shakespeare, "'He was a man; take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.'" Dr. Hogan, who was 69, died in March.

Calling Dana Johnson "a true visionary," Helen Bowers recalled the legacy of her friend and colleague, including the Academic and Professional Development Center that helps undergraduates choose the best combination of curriculum and internship options; the Chaplin Tyler Lecture series; the Family Business Center; and the Corporate Associates Program in which MBA students work with firms while completing their degrees. "While all these are significant accomplishments," Bowers said, "Dana was most proud of the role she played in the Information Technology Partnership Initiative." The recipient of several teaching awards, Dean Johnson, who died Feb. 19, also was known for her research in the area of bankruptcy and was the associate editor of two journals. "As a true innovator and leader in education, her legacy will outlive her short tenure here at the University," Bowers said. Dana Johnson was 49.

July Celli, a former student and colleague, presented the tribute to James McLaren, who died Nov. 11 at the age of 73. Celli noted that one of her fondest classroom memories is the spring semester when "Dr. McLaren taught me the intricacies of 19th-century French symbolist poetry while walking along the Mall, amidst trees and flowers in bloom and singing birds." As a colleague who sometimes disagreed with her mentor, Celli said, "I think he was pleased to see I could argue using the same method of reasoning and logic he had taught me years earlier." Noting that Dr. McLaren would have preferred that she quote someone other than Sartre, Celli said, "I have to say that he was the sum of his acts--a published scholar and creative author, an inspiring teacher, a witty and intellectual mind as well as a down-to-earth fisherman, a charming host and thoughtful friend, a loving family man."

Gerald Milton Straka, who came to the University in 1966, retired in 1992. He had moved to Milwaukee to be with his family, where he died on Dec. 5 at the age of 67. His colleague, Lawrence Duggan, noted that the Dr. Straka was "particularly noted for his teaching skills, which he enlivened with his considerable gifts as an actor, the alternative career he would have chosen." A "fine and productive scholar and author of several books and articles on the Stuart and Hanoverian periods in English history," Dr. Straka and his wife, Lois, took up ballet in their mid-40s, "giving a number of recitals in their last dozen years." Duggan noted that Dr. Straka was recollected fondly by friends and colleagues "for his great generosity and kindliness to all, and to students--both undergraduate and graduate--he was ever encouraging."

Born in 1907 in Las Vegas, Daniel Norman Sundt died March 15 at the age of 91 in Wilmington. Col. Sundt first served the University as professor of military science and tactics from 1957 to 1959 and then as lecturer in mathematics from 1959 to 1972. Albert Livingston noted that Col. Sundt was known for his love of country, serving for 40 years as the parade marshal for the Newark Memorial Day Parade, and for his love of his fellow man, providing more than 1,000 hours of volunteer service at the Veterans Hospital in Elsmere. During World War II, he commanded the 867th Field Artillery Battalion, which saw action from the Rhine Valley to Austria. In recognition of his service, the state of Delaware and the residents of his community, Delaware Gov. Thomas Carper declared May 30, 1997, Daniel Norman Sundt Day.

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