Richard A. Flinn
Richard A. Flinn, professor emeritus of materials and metallurgical engineering, died April 29 in Seattle. He was 76 years old.
Flinn joined the faculty in 1951 and during his U-M career he developed an international reputation for research on process and physical metallurgy, steelmaking, cast metals, solidification and failure analysis. He retired in 1985.
Before joining the U-M, Flinn was a research metallurgist for International Nickel Company and assistant chief metallurgist at American Brake Shoe Company.
He held a B.S. in chemical engineering from City College of New York, an M.S. in metallurgy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from MIT.
He published approximately 120 technical papers and three books, including the widely used textbook, Engineering Materials and Their Applications. In 1944 and in 1963, Flinn received the Henry Marion Howe Medal from the American Society for Metals. In 1977, he was named a Fellow of ASM.
He is survived by his wife, Edwina; sons John, Paul, Mark and Brian; brother Paul Flinn; and several grandchildren.
Memorial contributions to a scholarship fund in Flinn’s name may be sent to: Materials Science and Engineering Department, 3062 H.H. Dow Building.
Kenneth E. Vance
Kenneth E. Vance, professor emeritus of library science and education, died May 1 of complications following heart surgery. He was 75.
Vance’s career began as a teacher in a one-room school in rural Michigan and led to his becoming one of the most widely respected library educators in the United States.
He received his B.A. degree from Central Michigan University and three other degrees—M.A. degrees in English and library science and an Ed.D. in library science—from the U-M.
During 1950–56, Vance served as school library consultant with the School of Education’s Bureau of School Services. He became assistant professor of library science in 1962, associate professor in 1966, and professor in 1972. Concurrently, he was professor in the School of Education. In 1969, he was named assistant dean of the School of Library Science (now School of Information and Library Studies).
“Vance knew personally a majority of the graduates of the School of Information and Library Studies and countless librarians across the country,” said Daniel E. Atkins III, dean of the School of Information and Library Studies. “He had a host of friends on the Michigan campus, throughout the nation and, indeed, the world.”
After his retirement in 1982, Vance served on doctoral committees, taught regular classes in the School and served as the executive secretary of the School’s 6,000-member alumni society.
Vance served as vice president of the Michigan Library Association, president of the Michigan Association of School Librarians and member of the Council of the American Library Association. In 1988, he received the U-M Alumni Service Award for his many years of service to the Alumni Association.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the School of Information and Library Studies Faculty-Alumni Scholarship Fund.
