Passings Urban Studies alumnus Ashkan Rezvani Naraghi died on Dec. 25, 2020 while mountain climbing in the Sheminarat area of the Alborz Mountains near Tehran, Iran. Along with 11 other climbers, Ashkan was caught in an avalanche. Ashkan completed his PhD in 2016, working under the direction of professor of sociology Jennifer Jordan. Since 2018, he had been an assistant professor in the School of Planning and Design at the University of Tehran. Ashkan is remembered as an extremely bright, engaging, exceptionally kind and generous student, who was immensely popular with both students and faculty. He won multiple awards while at UWM, including an IGHERT fellowship and best graduate paper awards at two Urban Studies Student Research Forums.
Ashkan Rezvani Naraghi
Ashkan was an exceptional scholar who had numerous published book chapters and articles in such journals as Histoire Urbaine, International Journal of Islamic Architecture, International Journal of Arts & Sciences, Iranian Studies, Environment, and Space & Place. In his research and writing he developed novel ways to apply and reimagine western theories of space and place to better fit his native Iran. He was nearing completion of his first book, based off his dissertation, “From Mosques and Coffeehouses to Squares and Cafes: The Production and Transformation of Political Public Spaces and Social Life in Modern Tehran,” for Cambridge University Press. He is survived by his wife, Setareh, who is expecting their second child in a few weeks, and their three-year-old son. There is a memorial site set up for UWM friends and colleagues to share memories with links to the recorded memorial service that took place on Friday, Dec. 30, 2020 at the University of Tehran.
Dr. Francis Xavior “Xave” Baron, Professor Emeritus of English in the College of Letters and Science at UWMilwaukee, passed away on Dec. 18, 2020. Xavier attended St. John Benedictine Seminary school, which helped form the basis for achieving a Doctorate in English Literature from the University of Iowa. He then moved to Wisconsin and joined UWM’s faculty in the English Department. Among his works, he published a three-volume anthology, “London: 1066-1914,” that showed his enthusiasm for the City of London and its cultural history. He also produced work for the Museum of London and taught English literature as a visiting scholar in England and Germany. After a 37 year career teaching at UWM, Xavier retired as an emeritus professor in 2003. Dr. Baron’s obituary is available at https://legcy.co/3j3Dogc.
Alumni Accomplishments Diane House (’86, BA Economics) joined the board of directors of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). House is currently the economic development director of the Great Lakes InterTribal Council, and she is serving her second term as an Appellate Court judge for the Oneida Judiciary and as a pro tempore judge for Wisconsin Tribal Courts. WHEDA works to provide low-cost financing for housing and small business development within the state. https://bit.ly/35zspWg Chris Henke (’92, BA Sociology) published a book, Repairing Infrastructures (with Ben Sims, published by MIT Press), examining infrastructure repair in modern life. Henke is an associate professor of sociology and environmental studies at Colgate University. https://bit.ly/3pVh9eK Samantha Bomkamp (’20, MS Anthropology) was named the collections manager of the Blackwater Draw Museum and the Eastern New Mexico University Curation Facility. She started her job in January and is responsible for caring for the artifacts housed at the venue. The Blackwater Draw Museum houses items excavated from the Blackwater Draw Locality, a spring-fed lake where archaeologists and historians have found stone tools and other artifacts of early Americans. https://bit.ly/39pAdfI College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 13
