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Edmund Whale
Edmund Whale, 77, born in Ishpeming, Mich., Sept. 13, 1929, to Ernest and Ruth Whale. He graduated from the U-M Medical School in 1954 and was a member of Alpha Kappa Kappa Honor Society.
He died Nov. 30, 2006 in Seattle, Wash., where he was being treated for leukemia. He was 63.
Saxonhouse was died Nov. 9, 2006.
A familiar face on campus for 35 years, he was one of the first Native Americans to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. Storer joined the University faculty as a T.H. Hildebrandt Research Instructor in 1965 after receiving his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was promoted through the ranks to professor in 1979.
Storer's research area was primarily in combinatorics, more specifically cyclotomy. His monograph "Cyclotomy and Difference Sets" (1967) became a standard reference. He also conducted research in modeling of long-term memory and recognition and directed the thesis work of numerous doctoral students.
Storer is most remembered in the Mathematics Department as an outstanding teacher and counselor who inspired his students and left a lasting impression. Colleagues say he was a dedicated instructor for honors calculus for many years. They also say his courses were among the most rigorous, and that his distinctive teaching style, coupled with great intellectual excitement, drew students to his classes. He received the Amoco Foundation Good Teaching Award in 1985.
Storer also had a great impact on students in his role as an undergraduate counselor in the Honors Program, a position he held for 32 years. It was in that role, colleagues say, where his integrity, sensitivity, patience and empathy for students enabled him not only to guide them academically, but also to help them become well-rounded individuals.
He touched the lives of students in many fields, and is well remembered as a strong influence in their lives.
"Tom Storer took a personal interest in his students' lives; you knew it was genuine, even if you never had the pleasure of meeting him outside the classroom," says Susan Kolodziejczyk (B.A. 1993, senior researcher, National Geographic Society). "Anywhere you found him-in his office, on a bench in the sun, at a favorite corner of the Brown Jug-he welcomed every smiling face."
It has been said that Storer was always teaching. He himself left the following legacy on his door upon retirement: "From where the sun now stands, I will teach no more forever." Besides mathematics and the honors program, Storer was an educator in U-M courses on Native American culture and the Ojibwa language.
Robert Megginson, professor of mathematics and associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education in LSA, remembers Storer fondly.
"Tom was a remarkable individual who cared deeply about students," Megginson says. "In my travels I have found it amazing how many former U-M students, American Indians and others, will find out that I am a U-M mathematician and then tell me of the difference Tom made in their lives and careers. We have lost one of our great educators and mentors, and he will be sorely missed."
For many years, Storer was the principal faculty spokesman for Native Americans. He worked closely with the U-M and Ann Arbor Native American community. His commitment to diversity and dedication to promoting equity and justice for all people was reflected in his receipt of the Dream Keeper Award.
Throughout his life, colleagues say, Storer shared his love and knowledge of string figures from around the world and became a leading authority. He pursued many different athletics during his lifetime, and taught several Mathematics Department members to play tennis. He had a deep love for freestyle Frisbee, and displayed his prowess regularly on the Diag. His Dalmatians were his much loved and constant companions.
Storer is survived by his wife, Karen; children, Eileen (Charles) Storer Smith and Jeannie (Trevor) Thrall; mother, Betty Tauer; and six grandchildren. Colleagues say he will always be remembered as being a true "Renaissance Man" filled with deep passion and joy.
Donations can be sent to the International String Figure Association: ISFA, P.O. Box 5734, Pasadena, CA 91117. Several years ago, the Thomas F. Storer Fund was established in the Department of Mathematics to support honors students. Donations can be sent to the Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043.
Henry Root Austin
Henry Root Austin, professor emeritus of communication, born in Alma, Mich. His family moved to Ann Arbor, where he earned all of his degrees from U-M-Bachelor of Arts (1934), Master of Arts (1947) and doctoral degree in education (1959). Gifted as a singer and actor, he appeared as a student in a number of University operas and plays, and following his graduation began a career as a professional performer, which led to appearances on the Broadway stage in the early 1940s.
With the coming of World War II, Austin served as a naval officer in the Pacific, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. At the war's end, he returned to his professional career. Among his notable performances was his portrayal of Jud in "Oklahoma!" in a company that toured the United States and appeared in Europe as part of the U.S. State Department's cultural exchange program.
In addition, Austin undertook graduate study during this period and served the University's departments of English and speech as a teaching fellow. He also became the director of radio and television for the summer sessions of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, an experience that gave him the background for his doctoral dissertation on some aspects of the camp's history.
Austin's experience as a professional and his ability to analyze and explain the elements of effective performance uniquely qualified him to teach acting, announcing, and newscasting for radio and television, colleagues say. They also say he developed innovative classroom procedures and carried out a number of research studies designed to improve teaching in this area, contributing significantly to the teaching of radio and television production techniques.
On his retirement from the University in 1980 after 26 years of service, Austin moved to New Mexico and embarked upon a career as a wood sculptor. In his later years, he and his wife, Carolyn, spent six months in New Mexico and six months in Ann Arbor, where he was a regular at weekly lunches of the emeritus speech faculty.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Henry Jr., of Dallas, Texas, and Bill, of Bloomington, Ind.
Jon Cosovich
After a four-year struggle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Jon Charles Cosovich born June 19, 1935 in Astoria, Oregon. He graduated from Stanford University in 1958 with a political science degree. As friends and colleagues can attest, Cosovich had an incisive analysis of the current political climate. He met his wife, Katharine, while attending Stanford; they were married in 1960.
In 1961 Cosovich began his career in university development at Stanford. Two decades later, he departed the west coast for the job as vice president for development at U-M in Ann Arbor.
From 1996 until months before his death, he served as senior advisor to the director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford, where he was reunited with many colleagues and friends. He also was a member of the Bohemian Club, Rotary, Ann Arbor Club, VPs and Detroit Athletic Club.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his son Charles, his wife, Kerry, and their children, Caroline and Grant of Burlingame, Calif.; son Peter, and his wife, Maureen, and their children Grace and Sophie of Phoenix, Ariz.; daughter Sarah of San Francisco; brother Peter of San Francisco; brother Alan of Seaside, Ore.; and brother-in-law Charles Getchell of Ipswich, Mass.
Donations in memory of Cosovich may be given to the University Musical Society, University of Michigan, Burton Memorial Tower, 881 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1011.
