The University Record, February 11, 1997
OBITUARIES:
Edwin N. Goddard
Edwin Newell Goddard, professor emeritus of geology and mineralogy, died Feb. 1 in Kalamazoo. He was 92.
An expert on geological mapping and a consultant to NASA’s first manned lunar mission, Goddard taught at the U-M for 24 years. “Eddie was the quintessential field geologist,” says Henry N. Pollack, professor of geological sciences. “He directed the department’s summer field camp for years. More than anything, he loved being out among the rocks.”
Goddard first came to Ann Arbor as an undergraduate in 1923 and subsequently earned three U-M degrees—a B.A. in 1927, M.S. in 1928 and Ph.D. in 1936. He served as an instructor in geology from 1928 to 1930, when he joined the staff of the U.S. Geological Survey where he worked as principal geologist and geological map editor and published several articles on mining districts in the western United States.
In 1949, he returned to the U-M as a professor of geology and director of geological field work. Goddard served as chair of the geology department from 1951 to 1956. He retired from U-M in 1970 and moved to California. He was living in Portage, Mich., at the time of his death.
As consultant to the NASA Geology Experiments Team, he was part of a team of geologists who directed astronauts in their geological experiments during the first manned lunar landing and analyzed rock samples collected on the moon.
Goddard was active in many professional organizations including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of America, American Geophysical Union, the Michigan Geological Society and Sigma Xi.
Goddard is survived by his wife, Betty Stumm of Portage; three daughters, Patricia Vavrick of Blaine, Wash., Judy Goddard of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Bobbie Lam of Kalamazoo; three stepchildren, Virginia Christensen of Peterborough, N.H., Diana Stumm of Palo Alto, Calif., and Ernie Stumm of Portage; and seven grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the Summer Field Camp Fund, c/o Dept. of Geological Sciences, 2534 C.C. Little Bldg., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1063.
Kenneth Allin Luther
Kenneth A. Luther, professor of Persian studies, died at his home in Ann Arbor Feb. 2. He was 63.
He joined the U-M in 1963 as assistant professor of Persian Studies, became associate professor in 1969 and professor in 1973. He was awarded the University Distinguished Service Award in 1970.
He was associate director of the Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies in 1970-71 and served as the center’s director in 1971-74. He specialized in Perso-Islamic/Iranian history and Classical Persian Literature, returning frequently to Iran to pursue research.
Luther received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in 1955, his master degree in 1959 and Ph.D. in 1964, both from Princeton University.
Luther served on a number of national and international committees, including the Joint Committee on the Near and Middle East of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council and the Research and Training Committee of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. He was president of the American Institute of Iranian Studies 1977-79. In 1980, Luther was instrumental in getting adverse visa regulations rescinded for Iranian students in the U.S.
He is survived by his wife, Marjory; three children, Anne Jackson of Ann Arbor, Katherine Lara of San Diego, Calif., and Capt. Kenneth S. Luther, U.S. Army, Fort Bragg, N.C.; two grandchildren, William Allin Jackson and Melissa Anne Jackson; a sister, Roberta Luther Lake of Gainesville, Fla., and two nephews. Memorial contributions may be sent to St. Gregory’s Abbey in Three Rivers, Mich., to the Adirondack Council, or to the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University for the Luther Prize.
