The University Record, June 11, 1997
Obituaries
Joseph E. Sinsheimer
Joseph E. Sinsheimer, professor emeritus of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, died May 10. He was 74.
Sinsheimer held three degrees from the U-M and was on the faculty at the University of Rhode Island before joining the U-M as associate professor of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry. He was promoted to professor in 1969 and also was appointed professor of environmental and industrial health in 1980. He retired in 1993, but continued active involvement with the University.
He mentored more than 27 Ph.D. students and 11 postdoctoral scholars, and is credited with nearly 100 scientific publications.
His honors include an honorary doctorate from the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Sinsheimer was born Dec. 20, 1922, in New York City.
Survivors include his wife, Ruth; children Robert (Gretchen Guelde) Sinsheimer of Chevy Chase, Md., Janet (Alan Izumi) Sinsheimer of Los Angeles and Ann Sinsheimer of Pittsburgh; three grandchildren; and his sister.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Museum of Art. A memorial service is planned for late summer.
James B. Griffin
James B. Griffin, emeritus professor of anthropology and emeritus curator of archaeology, died of heart failure May 31 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 92.
Griffin was internationally recognized for his research on the prehistoric American Indian cultures of the Mississippi Valley and the Eastern United States. A member of the National Academy of Science, he played a pioneering role in encouraging the use of data from many academic disciplines to understand how these cultures emerged, flourished and faded.
Griffin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago, then earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the U-M in 1936. He joined the faculty, becoming a director of the Museum of Anthropology in 1946, and was appointed full professor in 1949. He retired from the U-M in 1975. In 1984 he moved to Bethesda, Md, and became a Regents Fellow at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, retiring in 1990.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Marsh DeWitt, of Bethesda, Md; three sons, John of Portland, Me, David of Chevy Chase, Md, and James of Crested Butte, Colo.; and four grandchildren.
A celebration of his life will be held in Ann Arbor in late June. Memorial contributions may be made to the James B. Griffin Endowment Fund, University of Michigan, Office of Trusts and Bequests, 3003 S. State St., Suite 9000, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1288.
