Richard ‘Andy’ Andrews
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. today (June 3) at the Business School’s Hale Auditorium for Richard W. (Andy) Andrews, associate professor of statistics, who died of a heart attack May 29 in Brazil. He was 61.
Andrews, who had taught at the Business School since 1974, was also the academic director of the Brazil Global MBA Program. At the time of his death, he was in Brazil working with teams of students helping companies to solve problems in business.
“Andy was a beloved member of our community,” says Susan Ashford, senior associate dean for academic affairs. “He brought his passion for excellence and his unique zest to everything he did.”
Jim Walsh, professor and chair of organizational behavior and human resource management, called Andrews the “Michael Jordan of our world.”
“He was simply the best teacher I have ever known,” Walsh says. “You had to bring your best game if you wanted to teach with him. His knowledge, preparation, enthusiasm and commitment were unparalleled. He made us all better.”
“I often told him that he was wasting his talents teaching statistics,” adds Peter Lenk, associate professor and chair of statistics and management science. “He could easily have been a general, CEO or talk-show host, which pretty much spans his talents. But teaching statistics was his passion.”
Andrews’ academic work focused on statistical quality control studies, applications of Bayesian statistical analysis, and vehicle fuel economy and emissions.
“Though he took his work seriously and demanded excellence from himself and others, he didn’t take himself too seriously,” says Michael Gordon, associate dean for information technology. “He was quick to credit others, quicker to tell a funny story or joke. He had an unusual ability to connect with people.”
A decorated war veteran, Andrews served in Vietnam as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1964–68. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He earned a master’s in mathematical statistics from Michigan State University in 1970 and a doctorate in statistics from Virginia Tech in 1973.
During his tenure at the Business School, Andrews served as chair of statistics and management science, 1989–1997. He also consulted with companies, such as Ford Motor Co., Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Michigan, and Ernst & Young.
Andrews was born Dec. 11, 1940, in Dayton, Ohio. He is survived by wife Elizabeth of Ann Arbor; sons David (Thu-Lan) of Irving, Texas, and Daniel (Wendy) of San Francisco; daughter Martha of Cambridge, Mass.; and six grandchildren, Matthias, Angela, Joseph, Thomas, Patrick and Albert. Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized.
—From Bernie DeGroat, News and Information Services
Howard A. Crum
Howard A. Crum, professor emeritus of botany, and curator emeritus of bryophytes, died at his home April 30. Crum joined the LS&A faculty in 1965 as an associate professor of botany and curator of bryophytes for the University Herbarium. He had a distinguished reputation of international renown as an authority on mosses, with special interest in Spagnum and in peatland ecology.
He taught general biology and various botany courses, including plant diversity, bryology, lichenology and wetlands. For many summers he also taught at the U-M Biological Station at Douglas Lake in the northern Lower Peninsula. He wrote half a dozen books, published more than 200 journal publications, and edited The Michigan Botanist, The Bryologist, and The Journal of Bryology. Retirement in 1995 did not slow his energetic pace. His book “Structural Diversity of Bryophytes” came out on his 79th birthday, and another is soon to be published.
Crum was born July 14, 1922, in Mishawaka, Ind., and began his undergraduate work at Western Michigan University. But at the outbreak of WW II he enlisted in the Army Air Force and saw service in the intelligence sector in the Middle East and in North Africa, 1942–45. He completed his B.S. at Western in 1947 and went on to the U-M to earn his M.S. in 1949 and Ph.D. in 1951. Before returning to the University, he held various positions including Curatorship of Cryptogams at the National Museum of Canada 1954–1965.
Crum was promoted to professor in 1969. He also served as chair of the Department of Botany in 1981–83. For many years he served as an undergraduate counselor in the LS&A Counseling Office. He was highly respected for his teaching, his mentoring of many graduate students, his counseling of undergraduate students and his numerous scholarly contributions. He also is fondly remembered for his keen wit and wry sense of humor.
He is survived by his wife Irene, his daughter Mary Crum Scholtens, his son Roger, and his grandchildren Michael and Lucy Scholtens, and Raphael and Ilaria Crum.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Howard A. Crum Memorial Fund for students at the U-M Biological Station (UMBS), 501 E. University/Dennison Bldg., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, or to Arbor Hospice, 2366 Oak Valley Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48103.
–Submitted by Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Albert J. Silverman
Albert Jack Silverman, a noted psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher and former chair of two university psychiatry departments, died of cancer May 10. He was 77.
In 1970, Silverman became chair of psychiatry at the Medical School. He is credited with redirecting the department’s research, education and treatment programs, and leading during a time of great change. He returned to research and clinical care in 1981, and retired in 1990, but continued as professor emeritus. A research conference named for him has been held annually for 12 years at the U-M.
“Al was truly a force to be reckoned with, an international leader in the field of psychosomatic medicine, and an important figure in the development of psychiatry at Michigan and beyond into a field that embraces all aspects of the human brain and psyche,” says John Greden, current department chair and executive director of the U-M Depression Center. “We will miss him terribly, but we know that his contributions will live on.”
Silverman set out to bridge the gap between the Mental Health Research Institute, home to noted basic research in the neurosciences, and the psychoanalysis-focused psychiatry faculty. In addition to strengthening the clinical trials program, he helped the U-M implement new clinical treatments and research programs emphasizing psychopharmacology, biofeedback and stress-neuroendocrine relationships. He also revamped the curriculum for medical students to include more psychiatric training, improved the residency program and attracted young neuroscientists.
An amateur musician and sculptor, Silverman was a patron of the University Musical Society, a friend of the Museum of Art and a patron of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
In the mid-1950s, Silverman led research for the U.S. Air Force on space neuroscience and psychology, which rose from obscurity to prominence overnight in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik. In addition to performing key research on physical and psychological responses to G-force acceleration and space travel as chief of the stress and fatigue section of the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, he helped invent a device that used pilots’ brain waves as an oxygen-deprivation warning system.
He is survived by his wife Halina W. Silverman of Santa Barbara, Calif.; son Barry Evan Silverman (Nancy) of Pittsburgh; daughter Marcy Silverman Mullan (John) of Carpinteria, Calif.; four grandchildren, Luke, Kelly, Erin and Mark; and brother Marvin Silverman of Ottawa, Canada and his family.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the U-M Department of Psychiatry (301 E. Liberty, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2251); Hadassah; or the Music Academy of the West.
—From Kara Gavin, Health System Public Relations
J. E. Keith Smith
J. E. Keith Smith, a long-time professor in the departments of psychology and statistics, died March 9, after a brief illness. He was 73.
Smith came to the University as professor of psychology and research scientist at the Mental Health Research Institute in 1964. He later became professor of statistics, as well. Smith served as chair of the Department of Psychology in 1971–76, a member of the executive committee of the doctoral program in social work and social science in 1976–80, and member on the executive board of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies in 1980–82. Countless doctoral candidates and other researchers benefited enormously from Smith’s profoundly insightful and generous consultations about statistical and other scientific matters. He served actively on more than 100 doctoral dissertation committees. He received emeritus status in 1996.
Widely admired by colleagues for his sharp intellect, humorous wit and modest gentle manner, Smith will be deeply missed. As one colleague said, “He was one of the most decent human beings whom I have known, and more rare because he combined this with a deep and abiding intelligence.”
A native of Iowa, Smith came to U-M for graduate school in mathematical psychology in 1950–1954, studying with faculty members John Atkinson, Clyde Coombs, Roger Heynes and Wilbert McKeachie.
After completing his Ph.D., Smith joined the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a research scientist, where he worked for ten years alongside pioneers of the information-technology revolution, including J. C. R. Licklider and Claude Shannon.
Smith’s research and publication contributed significantly to statistical discriminant-analysis, log-linear modeling, and mathematical theories of human cognition and performance. He wrote articles in the Psychological Bulletin, Psychological Review, Cognitive Psychology and Annual Review of Psychology on such topics as perception, attention, decision making, reaction time and movement production. The American Psychological Association elected Smith a Fellow, and the Journal of Mathematical Psychology appointed him editor in 1970–74.
His wife, Greta; mother, Naomi; brother, Paul; and sister, Sue Smith Blake survive him. A memorial gathering in Smith’s honor will be held by the Department of Psychology at a future date.
— Submitted by U-M Department of Psychology
