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Guy Mermier
Guy Mermier, professor emeritus of French, born in 1931 in Grenoble, France, and lived through the occupation during World War II. He first came to the United States on a Fulbright grant to Amherst College. He received his Licence and Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures degrees from the University of Grenoble in 1953 and 1954, and earned his doctorate in romance languages and literatures from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961. He came to U-M as an instructor in French in 1961-62, and returned as assistant professor of French in 1963. He was promoted to the rank of professor in 1980, and retired in 1998.
Mermier was an internationally recognized specialist in medieval French and Provencal literature. His publications include many scholarly books, editions and translations of major Old French text, as well as more than 40 articles. Just prior to his death, he was translating a 15th century manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. This past summer, he was honored as a fellow in the Mediterranean Studies Association.
A dedicated teacher and colleague, Mermier served on many departmental committees and on the Rackham executive board, the academic judiciary and the Senate Assembly. He directed the Michigan-Wisconsin academic year in Aix-en-Provence three times. He chaired and co-chaired 14 doctoral dissertation committees and was a member of many more. Mermier’s work as an academic adviser to undergraduates was recognized in 1995 by the Ruth Sinclair Award for concentration advising. He also received an LSA Excellence in Education Award in 1994. From 1980-97 he directed the Medieval and Renaissance Collegium, an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that was the forerunner of today’s Program in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. The French government honored his achievements with membership in the “Ordre des Palmes Académiques,” first at the rank of chevalier and subsequently at that of officier.
Colleagues say Mermier will be remembered by generations of Michigan students as a learned, warm and dynamic teacher, as a dedicated promoter of medieval studies, and as a patient and generous academic adviser and mentor. His family and coworkers say they also will remember him for his intelligence, generosity of spirit and fine sense of humor.
Mermier is survived by his wife of 57 years, Martha, his two daughters Catherine and Christine, granddaughters Alexandra and Elizabeth, sister Yvette, brother Paul, as well as many nieces and nephews, both in France and in the United States.
A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. April 23 in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan Union.
Richard Bailey
Richard Bailey, an internationally renowned scholar of the English language, who contributed significantly to nearly every subject of interest in English language studies, born Oct. 26, 1939, in Pontiac. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1961. As an undergraduate, he also had the opportunity to study at the University of Edinburgh. He did his graduate work at the University of Connecticut, taking his doctorate in 1965. He returned to Michigan in 1965 to teach at U-M in Ann Arbor. He was particularly loyal to his roots and spent parts of the summer on Drummond Island in Lake Huron.
Bailey was a committed citizen and often put his knowledge of English to use in social and educational settings. He was an expert witness in what is known as the Ann Arbor Black English Case (1979). With Dennis Baron and Jeffrey Kaplan, he recently submitted an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller. He assiduously mentored graduate students about how to make their work matter inside and outside the academy. In 2001 he received the D’Arms Award for Graduate Mentoring. For 34 years (1974-2008), he was a trustee of Washtenaw Community College, and he served as chair of the Board of Trustees from 1985-94 and 1999-2000; the college library was named in his honor in 2005. He recently received the Genesis Humanitarian Award from St. Clare’s Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Emeth.
Bailey was president of the American Dialect Society from 1987-89, president of the Dictionary Society of North America 2001-03 and editor of the journal Dictionaries from 1978-90. In 2005 he was named a Fellow of the Dictionary Society, its highest honor.
He was president of the Guild of Scholars of the Episcopal Church (2003-07) and a member of the Episcopal Church throughout his life. Bailey also was a member of The Flounders, a group of men who play water polo at noon three times a week at the U-M Intramural Building.
Bailey was the father of Nony, Andrew and Oceana Bailey. He was the husband of Julia Huttar Bailey from 1990 to the present. And he was a dear friend of Claire and Hallie Dykstra.
Robert L. Frost
Robert L. Frost, associate professor in the School of Information, born Oct. 25, 1952, in Bethseda, Md. He received his undergraduate degree in history and philosophy from Grinnell College in 1974, and earned graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Master of Arts, ’78; doctorate, ’83). From 1980-81, he attended the Ecole des Haûtes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. While a student at Grinnell, he met Hedstrom and they were died at age 93.
Proffitt, who earned his J.D. and Master of Law degrees at Michigan in 1946 and 1948, joined Michigan’s law faculty in 1956 and served in that role for more than 30 years. In addition to teaching admiralty and criminal law, he also served as assistant and associate dean. He helped lead the Law School Fund, now in its 50th year, to make it easier for alumni give back to the Law School.
“Roy Proffitt’s warm and friendly demeanor helped define Michigan Law for hundreds of students over the years. Alumni remembered him with affection and gratitude,” says Law School Dean Evan Caminker. “It’s no wonder he was able to build such a strong alumni network, and to help foster Michigan Law’s culture of giving back to the community.”
Proffitt was died Oct. 12, 2011 after stepping down in September due to illness.
Toews’ influence will continue to be seen for years to come, says pulmonologist Dr. Theodore Standiford, who is serving as interim division chief.
“His passion, commitment, mentorship, camaraderie and leadership will be missed,” Standiford says. “Nearly everyone currently in the division was recruited by Dr. Toews.”
Toews was a leader in the field of respiratory research for more than 30 years. Based on his contributions to the field, he was nominated by his colleagues for the Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Thoracic Society.
His research focused on the body’s immune response and the role it played in human lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Toews also was known for fostering collaboration between basic science research and clinical investigators. His efforts helped to make U-M one of the premier institutions for the diagnosis and treatment of IPF and other lung diseases. Pulmonary divisions throughout the country followed his template for patient-oriented research training.
“Beyond research, he made excellence in patient care a cornerstone of his own practice and built the division to be similarly devoted to high quality clinical care delivery,” Standiford says.
Toews graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in 1971 and completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. He served as an Army doctor at Fort Polk in Louisiana and then completed pulmonary and immunology fellowships at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center before joining the faculty there in 1979.
In 1987 he was appointed the chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at U-M. He was promoted to full professor in 1991 and served as associate dean for research at the Medical School from 2006-08.
In recognition of his major contributions to the areas of research, education, clinical care and service, Toews earlier this year was awarded the Paul De Kruif Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department of Internal Medicine. In 2002 he was given the Michigan Thoracic Society’s Bruce H. Douglas Award for contributions to pulmonary medicine.
A campaign has been initiated by the Pulmonary and Critical Care faculty to fund “The Galen B. Toews, M.D., Professorship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.” Contributions may be made online at www.med.umich.edu/intmed or by mail.
Checks should be made payable to the University of Michigan and sent to: University of Michigan, Department of Internal Medicine Development Office, 1000 Oakbrook Drive, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
