Emmanuel-George Vakalo
Emmanuel-George Vakalo, associate professor of architecture at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, died Oct. 2 in Ann Arbor. He was 54.
Vakalo was born in Athens, Greece, and served in the Royal Greek Air Force.
He received bachelor’s (1970) and master’s (1973) degrees in architecture, and a master’s degree in regional planning (1977) from Cornell University. He earned his doctoral degree from the U-M in 1985.
Vakalo joined the U-M in 1979 as assistant professor of architecture and became associate professor in 1991. His research and teaching interests were in computer modeling and shape grammer. Students in his design studio valued his guidance and ability to listen, and his insistence on rigor and commitment.
He served the College and the University as chair of the Educational Program Committee in 1980–82; and as a member of the Willeke Design Competition Committee in 1985–86, Senate Assembly Rules Committee in 1986–87, Architecture Faculty Search Committee in 1991–92, Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty in 1993–96 and the Rackham Divisional Board in 1997–99. He chaired the doctoral program in architecture in 1994–99. In 1982, he was awarded the Sol King Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“He made a very significant contribution in the master’s and doctoral programs in architecture,” notes Brian Carter, chair of the architecture program. “He was very thoughtful and quite an inspiring mentor for faculty and students. He will be sadly missed by students, faculty and staff.”
“Manos was a man with a big heart,” says Dana L. Buntrock, now a faculty member at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. Buntrock earned master’s degrees in architecture and in urban planning in 1988 and was a graduate student teaching assistant under Vakalo. “He taught me to teach. He knew each of us as individuals.
“Manos never really went home—he carried school with him always, and we appreciated it.”
Buntrock has committed $10,000 to establish the Emmanuel-George Vakalo Endowed Fellowship Fund to support doctoral students. Donations should be sent to the fund in care of Mary Anne Drew, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069.
Vakalo is survived by his wife, Kathleen, of Ann Arbor, and his mother, who lives in Greece. He will be buried in his native land. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.
From News and Information Services
Makepeace Uho Tsao
Makepeace Uho Tsao, a resident of Ann Arbor in 1938–67, died Aug. 6 in Sacramento, Calif., from complications following the implantation of a cardiac pacemaker. He was born in Shanghai, China, Aug. 28, 1918, and came to the United States to do his graduate work at the University of Michigan where his two older brothers were already studying. After completing his doctorate in pharmaceutical chemistry in 1944, he continued doing research in biochemistry in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases. In 1952 he became an assistant professor and was eventually promoted to associate professor. Tsao helped develop the PKU test that saved many children from mental retardation, and also devised a series of neonatal blood tests requiring mere drops of blood that spared babies from having to give relatively large quantities for testing.
In 1967, Tsao accepted a position in the new medical school at the University of California, Davis, where he did research and taught in the Department of Surgical Research before retiring in 1982.
In addition to his interest in science he was an avid participant in the arts. In Ann Arbor he was associated with the ONCE group, and photo-documented many of their concerts. He painted in oil and acrylic, enjoyed art photography, shooting in both black-and-white and color, attended many music concerts and gardened with a passion. In Davis, he was actively involved in the Davis Arts Center and the Friends of the Arboretum. After retiring he began a second career, and ran two art galleries in Sacramento, the Artworks and the Slant Gallery, which he later moved to Davis.
Tsao is survived by his wife of 53 years, Annette Lambie Tsao, of Davis; four children and two grandsons: Leon Tsao of Berkeley, Calif., Aimee Tsao and her son Lorin Tsao of San Francisco, Calif., Karen Tsao and her son Alec Tsao Johnson of Seattle, Wash., and Kelvin Tsao of Davis, Calif., as well as two brothers, two sisters and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial contributions may be made to the scholarship fund of the Davis Arts Center, 1919 F St., Davis, CA 95616 or the Davis Arboretum, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616.
Submitted by the family
