March/April 2002
Obituaries
Robert C. Bone
Robert C. Bone, 83, an FSU professor emeritus in political science, died last year. Dr. Bone received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1957 and taught at FSU from 1961 to 1981.
Dr. Bone was on the faculties of Tulane and Cornell Universities and worked for the U.S. State Department before joining the FSU faculty. His major interests included Southeast Asia and the history and theory of world communism.
In addition to numerous articles he wrote two books, "Action and Organization: an Introduction to Contemporary Political Science" and "Contemporary Southeast Asia," published by Random House in 1962.
Ralph Allan Bradley
by Myles Hollander, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor
Ralph Allan Bradley, the founder of FSU's statistics department and an FSU Lawton Professor, died Oct. 30.
He served on FSU's faculty from 1959 to 1982. He also made major contributions to the statistics departments at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Georgia.
Bradley was born in Smith Falls, Ontario, in 1923 and grew up in the village of Wellington. He graduated from Queen's University in 1944 with an honors degree in mathematics and physics, served in the Canadian Army from 1944 to 1945 and completed an M.A. degree at Queen's in 1946. He received a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1949.
Dr. Bradley was a leading researcher. He wrote more than 110 research papers in such areas as design of experiments, nonparametric statistics, sequential analysis and multivariate analysis.
He taught many people how to be professionals, and he made it exciting to be a faculty member at a major university.
Elfreda Chatman
Elfreda Chatman, 59, an FSU professor well known for research on human information-seeking behavior and for a "love of scholarly thinking," died Jan. 15.
She had been a professor in FSU's School of Information Studies since 1988.
Jane Robbins, dean of FSU's School of Inform-ation Studies, said Dr. Chatman "pi-oneered the field of studying the information-seeking behavior of traditionally overlooked subjects -the poor, women in prison, retired women, janitors."
Michele Besant, fellow faculty member, said Chatman took her time to serve as mentor to junior faculty members. Although she lectured in high academic circles, she was just "plain folk," like many of those she researched, Besant said.
"The most important thing for her was the life of the mind," Besant said. "She loved to think. Yet she was this incredibly warm person with a killer smile."
Former students agreed that a class with Chatman
could be intimidating, but her passion for her work was infectious.
"She had a way of championing students," said Gloria
Horning, whose dissertation was supervised by Chatman.
Besant agreed, saying: "She kind of invited them in to share her experiences and her love of scholarly thinking."
Vernon B. Fox
Vernon B. Fox, who helped develop the department of criminology at FSU, died Nov. 10 at the age of 85.
He was a professor for 34 years until his
retirement. A native of Boyne Falls, Mich., he had lived in Tallahassee
for 50 years.
He was also a farmer and a member of Airline Baptist Church.
Marian D. Irish
Marian D. Irish, the first head of the FSU department of political science, died Nov. 11. She was 92.
Dr. Irish, who had a Ph.D. from Yale, started teaching at the Florida State College for Women in 1933. She became the director of the division of political science in the department of history, geography and political science. She was head of the department for 19 years after FSCW became FSU. She retired from FSU after 33 years to conduct research at American University in Washington, D.C. A department chair is named after her in the FSU political science department.
"She was a member of a very distinct group of women who helped in the transition to change Florida State from a college to a university," said Steve Edwards, dean of faculty at FSU.
Irish wrote several political science textbooks,
which have been widely used, said Daisy Flory, retired dean of
faculty at FSU.
"I found her a wonderful head to work with. She had a wonderful
sense of humor," Flory said. "She was certainly one
of the best."
In 2001, Irish was honored by the FSU Emeritus Alumni Society with a Dean Eyman Distinctive Service Award, the most prestigious award given to faculty for outstanding contributions to the university.
Walter S. James
Walter S. James, 85, the FSU professor emeritus
of music who founded the Madrigal Singers program, died Sept.
15.
He taught at FSU's School of Music from 1946 until 1979, and
he was head of the voice faculty. He also led the music program
at Trinity United Methodist Church for 33 years.
Melvin Pope Sr.
By Carissa Neff, FSU English graduate student
Melvin Pope Sr., 98, a Tallahassee realtor
and businessman who set up scholarships for future teachers,
died Jan. 4.
A native of Mystic, Ga., he moved to Tallahassee in 1926, worked
as a barber and opened a beauty shop, which he later sold.
In 1947, he went into real estate and in the 1950s was president
of the Tallahassee Board of Realtors.
Pope had polio when he was 7 and dropped out of school in the
third grade.
"He was some kind of bright guy for a third-grade education,"
Melvin Pope Jr. said. "He had a Ph.D. in life."
But he became a great supporter of the kind of formal education
he had not had. His wife, Helen Pope, who died in 1985, was a
longtime Tallahassee teacher. They established the Helen and
Melvin Pope Education Scholarship at Florida State.
Rick Straub
Rick Straub, 45, associate professor of English, died Jan. 4 in an accident near Philadelphia.
He was traveling to the airport on his way to London, where he was scheduled to teach in the FSU program.
Dr. Straub had taught composition and rhetoric at FSU since 1986, and he specialized in teaching teachers to read, evaluate and respond to student writing. His articles are widely published in national textbooks.
"He was considered by many of his students to be the best teacher they ever had." said Deborah Coxwell-Teague, director of First-Year Writing.
Dr. Straub was born and grew up in Dunmore, Penn. He was the first member of his family to go to college, and "was somewhat of a local hero in Dunmore," said Coxwell-Teague.
He was an avid runner who loved to play basketball and whose favorite book was F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby."
Dr. Straub's parents have started a memorial scholarship fund. Their address is Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Straub, 819 E. Drinker St., Dunmore, Penn.18512.
Glayde Whitney
Glayde Whitney, 62, an FSU psychology professor who specialized in genetics and behavior, died Jan. 9.
Whitney spent more than 31 years at FSU, where he taught in the psychology department and conducted research into genetic mechanisms underlying behavior.
Several years ago, the National Institutes
of Health gave him a major research grant for scientists who
have made long-standing contributions.
Donald Foss, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, remembered
Whitney as a scientist who was at the forefront of his discipline.
He said many of his colleagues disagreed with Whitney's views.
"In the face of such criticism, he defended his views," Foss said. "As well, (FSU) defended his right to hold them."
Whitney gained controversy for the foreword he wrote for a book by David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. FSU President Sandy D'Alemberte openly disagreed with Whitney's views but defended his freedom of speech.
Mabel Maxwell Van Landingham
Mabel Maxwell Van Landingham, 107, of Cairo, a 1914 graduate of the Florida State Col-lege for Women, died Dec. 12. She was believed to be the oldest Florida State graduate.
She taught after graduating and in 1919 married Robert Roscoe Van Landingham. She gave up schoolteaching and had two sons and three daughters, but continued to teach Sunday and Bible school.
After her husband died more than 40 years ago, Mrs. Van Landingham joined her son in the family's Pontiac business until it closed. At the age of 90, she volunteered as a school librarian.
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