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John Aldridge
John Aldridge, emeritus professor of English, died Jan. 26, 2007 in his sleep. He was 86. The venerable 'Dr. E' was Ross School ambassador for diversity.
Edwards was a driving force in recruiting and mentoring minority students at the business school for more than 30 years. He was instrumental in leading the school's effort to join the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, the alliance among business schools that works to bring African American, Hispanic American and Native American managerial talent into MBA programs.
He was honored last year by the Black Business Students Alumni, which named its annual conference and scholarship after him.
"Dr. Edwards' efforts made the Ross School a leader in diversity, recognizing its importance as an essential element of an ideal learning community and helping the school to achieve a leadership position not only in terms of representation, but also in the education and professional development of all of our students," says Gene Anderson, dean of degree programs at the Ross School. "The impact of his work has reached far beyond Ann Arbor as peer schools have sought to emulate our success."
For many years, Edwards' office doubled as an unofficial student lounge, where students would gather to discuss academic, professional and personal matters.
"There was a lot of student traffic (in his office) between classes or at the end of the day," says Ross School professor David Wooten. "Dr. E knew more about the students' social lives than did many of their classmates."
Wooten, who was an MBA and Ph.D. student at the business school in the late 1980s and early '90s, met his wife, Lynn, a fellow Ph.D. student and now a professor at Ross, in Edwards' office.
"I was in my second year and Lynn was a prospective student," Wooten said. "Dr. E's office was a popular meeting place. It was an unwritten rule to bring prospective students to his office to hear his perspective and meet other members of the community."
Edwards joined the business school in 1974 as a professor of business administration and director of the division of research. He received a bachelor's degree from Livingstone College in 1948, a master's degree from U-M in 1949 and a doctoral degree from Iowa State University in 1958. After graduating, he taught at Michigan State University until 1963, when he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture as deputy assistant secretary before coming to U-M.
He is survived by his two children, Alfred and Beryl, and leaves behind a legion of admiring colleagues, former students and good friends who are deeply saddened by his death.
Robert Vinter
Robert Vinter, professor emeritus of social work, whose research in the juvenile justice system garnered state and national recognition, married in 1949 and with whom he shared his life for the next 37 years until she died June 11, 2006.
Sherman, born in New York City on June 24, 1921, received his Bachelor of Science from the City College of New York in 1948. He moved to Ann Arbor and obtained a doctorate in physics in 1952 at U-M with a specialty in experimental cosmic ray physics. He was an instructor in physics from 1952-53, then switched to theoretical physics with an appointment at the Livermore Laboratory. Sherman did calculations that were published in the Physical Review.
He returned to U-M as assistant professor of physics in 1956. Sherman was promoted to associate professor in 1961 and to professor in 1966. He was active in the development of a variety of new teaching techniques for general physics courses, focusing on computer-based and self-paced methods. He participated in the Academic Year Institutes held for high school physics teachers at the University and served as a liaison between the Physics Department and the Center for Learning and Teaching.
Sherman's service to the University included membership in the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs and assistance on a committee that led to the establishment of the Residential College. He took a sabbatical leave from 1963-65 to work at the New University of Sussex in England and another in 1969 for work at the University of California Berkeley.
After retiring from physics at U-M in 1978, Sherman pursued a desire to serve society in a more personal way. He moved to Berkeley and went to law school, to further causes in which he believed. A measure of his success during this part of his career was his receipt of the State Bar's 1997 President's Pro Bono Service Award. Sherman was presented with the award for providing free legal help to individuals threatened with the loss of their Supplemental Security Income benefits.
He is survived by his wife Pauline, a retired professor of engineering from both U-M and the University of California Berkeley.
