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Robert Iglehart
Robert Leslie Iglehart, professor emeritus of art and former head of the Art School, born in Baltimore, Md., and graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art, which awarded him a scholarship for a year’s travel in Europe. His interests were wide and he shared his enthusiasms with friends and students, says his daughter, Emily Iglehart, administrative assistant in the Department of Internal Medicine-Nephrology. He also pursued studies at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University.
Iglehart moved to New York City and began a successful career as a commercial artist and designer. World War II intervened and he served in the Pentagon in a variety of tasks. He wrote speeches for generals, constructed psychological tests and was a correspondent for the Army newspaper, Stars & Stripes. After discharge in 1946 he was asked to become chairman of the Art Department at New York University, where he played an important part in public support of the arts, Emily Iglehart says.
He died April 6, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia, following a crippling stroke. Friends and family remembered him as an individual who once thrust onto the stage of world history never stepped down, and in the process became bigger than life.
married in 1945, he joined his mother and stepfather in Palestine, where he became interested in the history of the Middle East.
The Ehrenkreutzes moved to England in 1947 where Andrew completed his doctorate at the University of London's School of Oriental Studies. In 1949 the couple also had a son, Stefan. In 1953 Ehrenkreutz accepted a post-doctorate fellowship to Yale University, and in the summer of 1954 he moved to Ann Arbor as a visiting lecturer in Islamic History at U-M. From 1967-85 he was professor in both the departments of Near Eastern studies and history. Upon retirement he was made professor emeritus and in 1987 moved to Australia with his wife to join their son Stefan and his family. Ehrenkreutz was the author of numerous scholarly articles and a major biography of the 12th Century Muslim conqueror Saladin, published by SUNY Press.
In the 1960s, Andrew Ehrenkreutz became active in the Polish American Congress and its efforts on behalf of an independent Poland. In the 1970s he was the moving force behind and co-founder of STUDIUM: The North American Studies Center for Polish Affairs, which became a leading source of information and support for the democratic opposition in Poland and later, the newly established Solidarity trade union. As president of STUDIUM, Andrew often was in Washington, D.C., carrying the message of support for Polish dissidents and trade unionists to the State Department and the Congress. He issued policy white papers, participated in high-level diplomatic discussions and wrote letters that were published in the major U.S media including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. After immigrating to Australia, he founded the Australian Institute of Polish Affairs (AIPA) and was a key figure in PolishU+00E2U+0080U+0093Jewish dialogue.
While at U-M, in addition to pursuing his academic interests and responsibilities, Ehrenkreutz also was instrumental in helping Peter Ostafin establish the Copernicus Endowment that has attracted world famous Polish intellectuals, scholars and artists to the University.
He was an enthusiastic U-M sports fan, regularly attending football, basketball and hockey games.
Ehrenkreutz is survived by his son, Stefan, daughterU+00E2U+0080U+0093in-law Carmel and a granddaughter Emilia in Australia. Interment will take place on July 9 at the Cemetery of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Memorial contributions may be made to the U-M Copernicus Endowment, 1080 S. University, Suite 4668, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106.
Mark Skalsey
Mark Skalsey, associate research scientist and lecturer in physics at LSA, born in Detroit and graduated from Cass Technical High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1971 from U-M. He earned a master's degree in nuclear physics in 1974 from the University of Manitoba then returned to Michigan to begin his doctoral studies in physics.
After a brief period at the U-M cyclotron, in 1976 he began to work with professor Arthur Rich in his atomic physics labs. Skalsey's expertise in nuclear physics blended well with Rich's atomic research with antimatter (positrons), in particular studies of the spin polarization of positrons produced in nuclear beta decay.
Skalsey's doctoral thesis in 1982 searched for variations in positron polarization from different nuclei due to hypothesized variations in the fundamental theory of weak interaction beta decay. He continued this kind of highly innovative research as a post-doctoral researcher with Rich, doing collaborative work at the Princeton cyclotron with the University of Toronto. Skalsey was promoted to research scientist in the late 1986 and continued his unique blend of nuclear/atomic physics becoming a mainstay of the so-called Leptons Interactions Group after Rich's death in 1990.
Skalsey's research had distinctive characteristics: absolutely original, searching for cracks in fundamental theories, marvelously low-budget on existing equipment in the group and always publishable, says physics professor David Gidley. His experiments also always included students, both undergraduate and graduate. He promoted his students, four of whom won awards for their undergraduate thesis work, preferring a more behind-the-scenes role for himself. Skalsey cultivated a gruff exterior to hide the teddy-bear inside, and his students universally developed a friendship and admiration for their mentor, Gidley says. He published more than 50 physics articles, spoke at numerous conferences and taught introductory physics for many years.
Skalsey's most recent research involved the world's highest rate positron beam at the North Carolina State University nuclear reactor. Throughout the 1990s he watched two European nuclear reactors generate positron beams through the pair production process by high-energy gamma rays produced in the reactor's core. He built a successful prototype positron beam in the Michigan Leptons group with the goal of building an intense beam in the Ford nuclear reactor, part of the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory dedicated to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The positron beams have a variety of uses from testing fundamental theories of how electrons, positrons (the antiparticles of electrons), and photons interact to studying materials in materials science.
"Mark Skalsey's interests were almost always in the first area of using positrons to test fundamental theories," Gidley says. "He liked to use antimatter as an annihilation tool and look for exotic decay modes that should be forbidden by standard theory - to see an exotic decay meant the theory was not fully correct. Hence we liked to joke that he typically measured absolutely nothing at all - he was the best at measuring 'zero.'
"We respected his work because these 'null experiments' are the hardest experiments to do right and believably."
After the University's decommissioning of the Ford reactor, Skalsey led the group's collaborative effort to build a prototype beam that operated so well in the core of the NCSU reactor in Raleigh that the National Science Foundation funded a three-year, $1 million grant to build the full-scale beam.
The group's collaborators at NCSU announced in December the achievement of the world's highest rate positron beam - testimony in part to Skalsey's vision and scientific perseverance.
"His broad view of the intermingling of nuclear and atomic physics will be missed in the University of Michigan's Physics Department," Gidley says.
Dr. David Kurnit
Dr. David Kurnit, former professor of pediatrics, born Dec. 24, 1947, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of Victor and Helen (Oxhandler) Kurnit. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Brooklyn College and his M.D. and doctoral degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Upon completing residency and fellowship programs, Kurnit became an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. He was then recruited by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and served as a Howard Hughes investigator at the U-M Medical Center, where he was given a full professorship with dual appointments in pediatrics and human genetics.
During his career, Kurnit published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals, pioneered ground-breaking research in the field of genetics and invented medical technology, which he and his wife sought to commercialize through a company they founded.
Friends and colleagues say Kurnit will be remembered for his brilliant mind, his sharp wit and his openheartedness. Throughout his career, he devoted himself to supporting the academic achievement of the students and researchers who worked in his lab.
Kurnit is survived by his wife, Kristine; three daughters, Katherine Kurnit, Jennifer Kurnit and Heather Spicer; three grandchildren, Sydney, Jake and Andrew; and a sister, Mona Kurnit. A life celebration service is planned for 1:30 p.m. May 17 at the Michigan League in the Koessler Room. Memorial donations may be sent to the American Cancer Society.
David Noel Freedman
Biblical scholar David Noel Freedman, professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies, LSA, Born in New York City, he was the second child of Beatrice and David Freedman, the latter a successful playwright and comedy writer for entertainers including Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice and Buster Keaton. He was a child prodigy who at age 5 could recite the kings and queens of England and their relevant dates and could play simultaneous chess games with champions at an early age (until his mother made him give that up for "more constructive" endeavors). He graduated at age 13 in 1935 from the prestigious Townsend Harris High School, from UCLA at age 17 in 1939, from Princeton Seminary in 1944, and from the Johns Hopkins University with a doctorate under William Foxwell Albright in 1948. He also served as pastor of two Presbyterian churches in rural Washington State, 1944-45, before returning to graduate studies.
He died.
Donations may be sent for a scholarship in his name to the Society of Biblical Literature.
