E. Donnall Thomas
1920-2012 UW Professor E. Donnall Thomas, who pioneered bone marrow transplantation, which has saved the lives of thousands of people with leukemia and other blood diseases, died Oct. 20 in Seattle. Thomas, a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, received the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1990. Thomas grew up in a small town in Texas, the son of a physician. He began doing research in the 1950s at a time when most everyone with leukemia and other blood cancers died. Thomas conducted the first bone marrow transplant on a leukemia patient in 1956 using donor cells from the patient’s identical twin. Upon hearing the news of his death, one patient said, “In your efforts you very likely sacrificed time away from your family, and in doing so, you gave us more time to spend with ours.” Thomas was 92.—Julie Garner
18 at the age of 88. In 2007, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. • RONALD LUHMAN, ’57, longtime member of the President’s Club, Tyee Club, Tyee Sports Council and the UWAA, died June 22. He was 81. • LOUISE McKINNEY, wife of noted Seattle pastor Rev. Sam McKinney, died Aug. 15 at the age of 82. She was an educator and philanthropist who served on the boards of ACT Theatre and the UW Foundation among others. • KRISTIN MILES, ’93, ’98, who served as an assistant attorney general in the UW Division, died June 23. She was 42. • R.L. MORGAN, an expert in identity management for UW Information Technology, died July 22 at the age of 57. He liked to bake bread, watch soccer and kayak. • JACK NUGENT, ’58, a former Husky football great who, in 1951, returned a punt against Oregon for a 97-yard touchdown, died July 18. He was a longtime dentist in Aberdeen. He was 82. • JOHN P. O’CONNELL, assistant professor of Romance Languages and foreign study administrator at the UW, died July 2. He was fluent in several languages and led tours to Europe with a travel company he co-founded. He was 77. • DAVID J. OLSON, professor emeritus of Political Science and founding director of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, died Sept. 15. He received the UW’s Sterling Munroe Public Service Teaching Award. He was 71. • MARGARET POWELL, academic counselor in the UW Biology program, died July 17. She loved other languages and cultures. She was 79. • RICHARD ROTTER, who taught at the UW Dental School and practiced dentistry in the University District for more than 20 years, died Sept. 10. He was a
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fly fisherman. • LAURIE ALICE SUTHERLAND, who spent 40 years as a UW librarian and most recently was head of the Serials Acquisitions Department, died Sept. 4. She was proud of her ancestral connections to Scotland. She was 65. • RUSSELL SHANK, ’46, ’49, chief librarian at UCLA from 1977 to 1989, died June 26. He was also first director of libraries at the Smithsonian Institution, where he began to automate operations and create the first centralized catalog for its more than 80 separate libraries. He died in Orange, Calif. at age 86. • MARIAN SHORT, who worked for the UW during World War II managing the Persian Dining Room, died June 16. She liked to share life-affirming stories about her time there during the war. She was 96. • DAVID P. THOMAS, ’41, ’47, professor emeritus of Forest Resources who served the UW for 37 years, died Aug. 25. He had the challenging job of serving as academic adviser to the ROTC program during the Vietnam era. • JAMES WARREN, ’52, former director of the Museum of History and Industry and former president of Edmonds Community College, died Sept. 13. He was a prisoner of war during World War II after he was captured in the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. He was 87. • EDWARD WENK JR., professor of engineering and public affairs, died June 27. He designed submarines, served as a scientific adviser to Congress and served as staff in the White House for several administrations. He was 92. • DON WHITNEY, longtime manager of graduate services for the UW Bothell Business Program, died Sept. 11. He was the first manager of the UW Bothell’s MBA program. He was 64.