AUGUST 2001
OBITUARIES
Tessa Bartholomeusz
Tessa Bartholomeusz, 42, a professor of religion at Florida
State and an expert in South Asian religions and languages,
died May 16.
She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and taught
there and Indiana Uni-versity before she came to FSU. Among her
important publications were "Women Under the Bo Tree"
(Cambridge University Press, 1992), the first major study of
Buddhist nuns in south Asia, and "Buddhist Fundamentalism"
(State University of New York Press, 1999). She wrote about Buddhism
and violence and war in a book to be published by Curzon Press.
When she died, she was studying the Sri Lankan diaspora in North
America.
Dekabrata Basu
Dekabrata Basu, 76, an FSU emeritus professor who was an internationally
influential mathematician and statistician, died March 23 in
Calcutta, India, from Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Basu taught statistics at Florida State from 1975 to 1985.
He began his career in statistical research shortly after leaving
his native Dhaka, Bangladesh, after the partition of India in
1947.
"Professionally he was one of the great names in statistics,"
said Jayrem Sethuraman, professor of statistics and Robert A.
Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State, who knew Basu
during his school days in Calcutta. "He had a very clear
and logical way of presenting."
Also professor emeritus at the Indian Statistical Institute,
Dr. Basu had lectured at numerous universities in the United
States and abroad.
Robert Earnest
Robert Earnest, 77, a retired professor in FSU's College
of Business, died May 28.
Dr. Earnest had been chairman of the finance department and had
set up the master's and doctoral programs in the College of Business.
He was credited with modernizing the FSU undergraduate business
curriculum.
"He was a diplomatic chairman and exciting teacher,"
said retired dean Charles Rovetta. "He was gentle and perceptive
in helping students, and his office usually was filled with groups
of students."
A sports fan, Dr. Earnest was a member of FSU's athletic committee
in the 1960s, and he scheduled the University of Alabama and
other major football teams before FSU was a major team.
Dr. Earnest attended West Point, served in the Army Air Corps
during World War II and earned a Ph.D. in finance from Ohio State
University.
Charles Wilson McArthur
Charles Wilson McArthur, 79, a retired FSU mathematics professor,
died May 26.
He attended Louisiana State University before joining the U.
S. Army Air Force. Du-ring World War II, he was a bombardier.
After the war he returned to LSU and earned a bachelor's degree
in mathematics. He received a master's in mathematics from Brown
University in 1950 and a Ph.D. from Tulane in 1954.
He taught at the University of Maryland and Auburn and came to
FSU in 1955.
He was major professor for the first Ph.D. candidate in FSU's
math department and for 16 others. He was active on the Faculty
Senate and other university committees
He was chairman of the department of mathematics, and retired
in 1986.
Dr. McArthur wrote "Operations Analysis in the United States
Army Eighth Air Force in World War II," published by the
American Mathematical Society and the London Mathematical Society.
John William "Bill" Nelson
John William "Bill" Nelson, 74, professor emeritus
of physics at Florida State, died April 8.
He earned a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics from the University
of Texas.
He taught at FSU for 34 years, and was recognized internationally
for applying nuclear methods in quantitative analysis.
He was co-inventor of the Streaker Sampler, which is used worldwide
to measure air quality.
"Because of him, we can all breathe a little better,"
said Elizabeth Goldsmith, who worked with him in 1995 on a study
of indoor air quality.
Stephen O'Connell
Stephen O'Connell, a former Florida Supreme Court justice
and president of the University of Florida, died April 13. He
was 85.
During World War II, he was an Army Air Corps fitness officer
in Australia and the Philippines and rose to the rank of major.
He received numerous awards and honors, including honorary doctorates
from FSU and Notre Dame University.
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