Edwin M. Yoder Jr., a journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize for his stylish and erudite editorials at the now-defunct Washington Star and went on to become a columnist syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group, died Nov. 30 at a retirement community in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 89.
Obituaries
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We are saddened by the news of Norman's passing. He came to Oxford in 1958 to study Modern Languages with a focus on Russian.
Peter was one of those selfless and talented people who have kept the movement for social, democratic and economic justice alive.
A cursory description of some of the episodes of Peter’s life and career make him sound like a true Renaissance person.
In his time, Peter was: a political aide to the only elected federal New Democrat from Alberta, a key advisor to the group that became the Dene Nation in the Northwest Territories, a producer and manager for CBC network radio, head of research for the federal New Democrats (when Jack Layton was leader), and a Rhodes scholar.
And that is only a very partial list.
In recent years, Peter described himself as “an economist, geographer and urban planner by academic training, and a political organizer/activist, development educator, journalist, policy wonk and political staffer by practice”.
To that, he added that he has had some of his poetry, fiction and non-fiction published.
Read the full obituary here.
By the time he retired from regular column-writing in 1996, Mr. Yoder was “a certifiable journalistic fossil,” as he put it, “a survivor from the linear age whose tenure has extended into the garish and glamorous electronic era of television, talking heads, talk radio and the Internet.”
Mr. Yoder, a political moderate, got his start at newspapers in his home state of North Carolina, where he wrote editorials in support of the civil rights movement and evoked the region’s history and culture while channeling the work of W.J. Cash and C. Vann Woodward, two leading chroniclers of the South.
His work attracted the attention of Texas financier Joe L. Allbritton, the new owner of the Star, who was seeking to rejuvenate the scrappy afternoon newspaper when he hired Mr. Yoder in 1975 to oversee its editorial page.
Mr. Yoder joined a staff that included Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mary McGrory, and in 1979 he was awarded a Pulitzer of his own, hailed by the prize committee for writing about “current national events with the confident understanding of the political specialist, the objectivity of the historian, and with masterful literary grace.”
Read the full obituary here.
We are grateful for his long service to the Rhodes community through his role as Class Leader.
Born in Saskatchewan, Dr. Jean de Margerie received his medical degree from Laval University. He subsequently obtained a DPhil as a Rhodes Scholar from the University of Oxford before continuing his specialty studies in ophthalmology. Co-founder of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sherbrooke, he is recognized for his skills in research, teaching and university management, among others as vice-dean of research and dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke. In addition, he held the positions of vice-president of the Medical Research Council of Canada, president of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and president of the Association of Ophthalmologists of Quebec.
Michael Vander Laan Bennett was a world-renowned authority in the field of intercellular communication in the nervous system. His studies showed that electrical synapses play critical roles in connecting neurons, and are especially important in synchronizing inhibitory interneurons in the mammalian brain.
Bennett received his undergraduate degree in Zoology from Yale University, where he was a competitive gymnast and was mentored by the eminent embryologist John Trinkaus, who continued to impact Bennett’s research at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) many years later. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, where he obtained his D.Phil. degree from Balliol College in 1957. His doctoral dissertation focused on the functional organization of the mammalian cortex, and he was proud of his Oxford education, noting that both Sherrington and Eccles had studied there.
Bennett then joined Harry Grundfest’s lab at Columbia, attracted by Grundfest’s personality and intellect, and by the opportunity to use sharp intracellular electrodes to record from neurons and effector cells in a vast assortment of exotic invertebrates and fish species that had nervous systems specialized for activities requiring synchronized or rapid transmission.
Bennett’s initial studies focused on electroplaques that generated the shocks for which electric fish are named. However, he quickly became intrigued by the question of how the animals generate synchronized discharge and later studied how weak electric fields are sensed though their specialized receptors, the ampullae of Lorenzini. His interest in electric fish led to his participation in an expedition with Ted Bullock on the research vessel the Alpha Helix on the Amazon River and even studies on mummified Egyptian sacred fish together with an Egyptologist and running buddy, Bob Brier.
Dr. Taniguchi was an Associate Professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, with a joint appointment in Radiation Oncology and Experimental Radiation Oncology. He was a physician scientist specialising in treating gastrointestinal malignancies, with a clinical and research focus on pancreatic cancer.
Richard Stewart, University Professor and John Edward Sexton Professor of Law, died on November 3. “Dick was a beloved figure within the legal community, known for his generosity, loyalty, and confident leadership,” Dean Troy McKenzie said in announcing Stewart’s passing.
Noting that Stewart was recognized as a preeminent scholar in environmental law and administrative law, McKenzie said, “It is no exaggeration to say that his death marks the passing of a giant in the law whose transformational influence on his field, and on our Law School, will be felt for many years to come.”
Stewart received a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in History, the Arts, and Letters from Yale University and then, as a Rhodes Scholar, a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with first class honors from Oxford University. He earned his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. Stewart began his legal career as a law clerk to Justice Potter Stewart at the US Supreme Court and worked for several years in private practice in Washington, DC. Joining the Harvard faculty, he quickly built a reputation as an extraordinary scholar with the publication in the Harvard Law Review of his now classic article, “The Reformation of American Administrative Law,” which marked a turning point in administrative law scholarship.
Stewart was a longtime leader of the Environmental Defense Fund, serving as its chairman from 1980 to 1983 and as a member of its board of trustees and advisory board. From 1989 to 1991, he served as assistant attorney general in charge of what was then known as the Land and Natural Resources Division of the US Department of Justice. He successfully worked to rename it the Environment and Natural Resources Division to reflect its mission more accurately. While in office, he led the investigation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the development of the US position in preparation for the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change. He was also instrumental in crafting major environmental legislation, including the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Read the full obituary here.
Frank was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and brought up in Vancouver. At Kitsilano High School and UBC, he thrived at academics, tennis, rugby, football and student politics. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, where he met and married June Reilly. They settled in Toronto, where Frank completed his PhD and was appointed to the English Literature department, University College, U of T. His work included pioneering studies of Canadian working-class literature and a book on Steinbeck. His real passion was his graduate Creative Writing seminar, which nurtured many young writers. Frank's own poetry collection, It's Over It's Beginning, was published in 1986 to critical acclaim. Much later, in his 80s, he self-published 9 books in one go, including novels, stories and poetry. In his 40s, he fell in love with show jumping, first as a rider and then as an avid supporter. Frank lived three happy decades on a beautiful farm near Schomberg with his second wife, Emily Brown, helping with her business transporting horses for some of Canada's top riders. Into his 80s, he was a local squash champion. He spent his final two years at Sunrise of Unionville, where he was loved for his cheerful humour and friendly banter.
Dr Prendergast was a force in science and medicine and a trailblazer in civil rights. In 1995, just 28 years ago, he became the first Black director of an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Prendergast was a role model who encouraged young men and women to pursue careers in science and medicine at mainstream institutions. When asked by a young Black physician about it being unusual for a Jamaican to settle in Rochester, MN, he interjected humor, saying, “It’s easy once you get used to the fact that they put white cream sauces on everything.”
Prendergast laughed, further reflecting on the Nordic cuisine, predominantly Nordic population, and snow-covered landscape.
He then added: “I am talking about more than just food.”
Dr. Prendergast and a very small number of peers literally opened doors, creating opportunities for minorities in medicine. One should not underestimate the importance of men and women like Prendergast, who demonstrated what Black people and minorities could accomplish with utmost competence. His opening of minds and widespread acceptance created opportunities for others.
Read the full obituary here.