Writing for Forbes, Prof. David Mindell memorializes the life and work of astronaut Michael Collins, a member of the Apollo 11 crew. “Thanks to Michael Collins, future generations can visit Air and Space, marvel at the Apollo 11 Command Module he piloted, and learn how astronauts pee,” writes Mindell. “Soaring exploration and humble humanity: a fitting legacy for Mike Collins.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, President Emerita Susan Hockfield and Prof. Ernest Moniz, former secretary of energy, highlight alumnus George Shultz’s PhD ’49 visionary approach to tackling climate change and the development of new technologies. "George was masterful in bringing together people and ideas from disparate disciplines to find new kinds of solutions to daunting political, technological, and organizational problems," they write. "He created communities of shared concern, which he recognized was the way to get things done and to have lots of fun doing so, frequently reminding us, 'If you want to land together, you better take off together.'"
Institute Professor Emeritus Isadore Singer, who became “one of the most important mathematicians of his era,” has died at age 96, reports Julie Rehmeyer for The New York Times. “Dr. Singer created a bridge between two seemingly unrelated areas of mathematics and then used it to build a further bridge, into theoretical physics,” writes Rehmeyer. “The achievement created the foundation for a blossoming of mathematical physics unseen since the time of Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.”
AP reporter Matthew Lee memorializes the life and work of George Shultz PhD ’49, “a titan of American academia, business and diplomacy who spent most of the 1980s trying to improve Cold War relations with the Soviet Union and forging a course for peace in the Middle East.”
George Shultz, an MIT alumnus and former professor of economics who served as a counsel and Cabinet member for two presidents, has died at age 100, reports Michael Abramowitz and David E. Hoffman for The Washington Post. “Mr. Shultz was a policy maven, conservative but curious, patient and determined. He ranged widely over domestic and foreign affairs,” they write.
Boston Globe reporter Mark Feenery writes that George Shultz PhD ’49, who held top positions under President Nixon and was secretary of state for President Regan, “was regarded as a model of managerial dependability: pragmatic, low key, unflappable.”
George Shultz PhD ’49, known for serving as President Regan’s secretary of state has died at 100, reports Malcolm Rutherford and Aime Williams for the Financial Times. Rutherford and Williams note that during Shultz’s tenure as secretary of state, “there were achievements in arms control, in reducing regional conflicts and in placing human rights on the US-Soviet agenda.”
George Schultz PhD ‘49, the former secretary of state under President Regan and an MIT alumnus, has died at 100, reports Michael R. Gordon for The Wall Street Journal. Gordon notes that Schultz’s “diplomacy helped seal the end of the Cold War,” adding that he “remained an active voice on national security, economic and environmental issues after leaving government.”
Wall Street Journal reporter James Hagerty memorializes the life and work of alumnus Peter Huber, who taught thermodynamics at MIT. Huber “practiced law and wrote provocative books and essays that made him an influential voice in debates over medicine, product-liability lawsuits, telecommunications, energy and the environment.”
Prof. Emerita Judith Jarvis Thomson, known for her work creating “new fields of inquiry in philosophy through her writings on abortion and a moral thought experiment that she named the ‘Trolley Problem’,” has died at age 91, reports Alex Taub for The New York Times. Taub notes that Thomson “wrote some of the most influential papers in contemporary American philosophy” and “made her imagination her most powerful intellectual tool.”
Guardian reporter Oliver Basciano explores the work of the late artist Aldo Tambellini, who was a fellow at MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies in the 1970s. “With his students he experimented with alternative documentary, collaborative film-making and live broadcast,” writes Basciano.
Professor Angelika Amon, an award-winning cell biologist and “an advocate for the kinds of studies that grind away outside of the limelight,” died on Oct. 29, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Amon’s daughter, Clara Weis, noted that Amon “was pretty much the best role model there is. She was very caring and understanding. She always knew what was happening and how to deal with it the right way.”
Times Higher Ed reporter Matthew Reisz memorializes the life and work of Prof. Angelika Amon, a “trailblazing” scientist known for her research into the life cycle of cells. “Angelika existed in a league of her own,” says Whitehead fellow Kristin Knouse. “She had the energy and excitement of someone who picked up a pipette for the first time, but the brilliance and wisdom of someone who had been doing it for decades.”
Multimedia artist, filmmaker and poet Aldo Tambellini, a former fellow at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies, died on Nov. 12, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. “With multimedia you create an effect that is not based on previous experience,” said Tambellini in an interview in 1967. “You saturate the audience with images. It happens now; it has a live quality. It’s a total experience in itself.”
New York Times reporter J. Hoberman chronicles the life and work of Aldo Tambellini, “a sculptor turned avant-garde filmmaker, pioneer video artist and veteran practitioner of multimedia installations,” who was a fellow at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies from 1976-1984.