Editor’s column

One day about two years ago, I called Tom Kicher’s mobile phone and reached him in his car. I wanted to talk with him about a story he was writing for Case Alumnus. He said he was on his way to work and would call me back.

Work? I did some quick mental arithmetic. I guessed he was in his early 80s. I knew he had retired from the faculty years ago (in 2005).

“I thought you were retired?” I said.

“Retired, hah!” he replied. “I should try that some time.”

Tom had the joy of working alongside his son, Paul ’91, right up until recent times at their engineering consulting firm in Mentor. He worked a lot of places, because he helped a lot of people.

Steve Zinram, the executive director of the Case Alumni Association, told me he called Tom at least once a month for 10 years. He said the former dean, who arrived on campus a freshman in 1955, could recall faculty who began teaching at Case in the 1890s.

Tom’s breadth of knowledge of Case and its people was astonishing. At the time of his death on Feb. 19 at age 84, he was helping the Kelvin Smith Library create a digital history of the school. He was also working for me, as a prolific writer and researcher whom I often tried to slow down.

Tom’s cover story on Leonard Case Jr., “The Case Legacy,” was easily our most popular story of 2019. (I asked for 3,000 words — he gave me 13,000). I’m more impressed with his later profile of Harry Fielding Reid, an early Case professor who led students on an expedition to the Alaskan frontier in 1890. The story is a marvel, if only for its description of how the team measured the movement of glaciers — colossal, uncharted glaciers — using standard surveying techniques they learned on campus.

Tom’s appetite for context and history was boundless. He was the master of the trenchant observation and the clever joke. I did not know him as a professor, but so many alumni have written to share memories, I feel I’m starting to.

No one gets a resource like Tom Kicher. Case did, for better than 65 years.

We cannot call him anymore. And I think that’s what’s called the end of an era.

Robert L. Smith Editor Robert.Smith@casealum.org

The Case Alumnus is published quarterly for members and friends of the Case Alumni Association, which serves the interests of more than 20,000 alumni of the Case School of Applied Science, Case Institute of Technology and the Case School of Engineering.

Established in 1885 by the first five graduates of the Case School of Applied Science, the Case Alumni Association is the oldest independent alumni association of engineering and applied science graduates in the nation.

The Case Alumnus is a publication of the Case Alumni Association, Inc., a 501(c)3 public charity under the IRS code.

CASE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, INC. Tomlinson Hall, Room 109 10900 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106-1712 216-231-4567 casealum@casealum.org casealumni.org

OFFICERS Joe Fakult ’90, President Brian Casselberry ’95, 1st Vice President Matt Crowley ’08, 2nd Vice President Curtis Grant ‘11, MEM ’12, 3rd Vice President Frank Merat ’72, MS ’75, PhD ’78, Treasurer Hillary Emer ‘07, MSE ’07, Assistant Treasurer Steve Simmons ‘79, MS ‘82, MBA ’86, Secretary

STAFF Stephen Zinram, Executive Director Thomas Conlon, Chief Financial Officer Emily Speer, Director of Gift Planning and Grants Compliance Robert L. Smith, Director of Communications Kelly Hendricks, Director of Alumni Relations Ryan Strine, Director of Annual Giving Janna Greer, Manager of Donor Relations and Grants Abbie Murphy, Manager of Digital Content and Design Pamela Burtonshaw, Database Manager Melissa Slager, Manager, Executive Office

CASE ALUMNUS Robert L. Smith, Editor Steve Toth, Toth Creative Group, Layout and Design Master Printing

PHOTO CREDITS Wetzler’s Photography Roadell Hickman Photography Flaticon.com, Icons

To serve and advance the interests of the Case School of Engineering, the math and applied sciences of Case Western Reserve University and its alumni and students.

Cover story

The passing of alumnus and former Dean Tom Kicher sparked remembrances and tributes from alumni and admirers far and wide. No wonder.

If your child or grandchild takes up the violin, you may have these young alumni to thank.

A new course connects startupminded students with Case alumni who know the game.

Alumni Adventures

Competitive ballroom dancing keeps Susie Nagorney on her toes.

Between freshman year and his recent graduation, Dean Cookson squeezed in a remarkable career.

1 Dean’s Message 2 Editor’s column 4 Letters, posts and emails 7 Around the Quad 10 Alumni Newsmakers 20 Case Memories 22 NewsBytes 26 Class Notes 31 Tribute: Al Gordon, 1920-2022 31 In Memoriam 32 Long We'll Remember

On the cover: Thomas P. Kicher, ’59, MS ’62, PhD ’65. Dean, Case School of Engineering 1992-1998

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