College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley

In Memoriam

November 14, 2009

The College of Natural Resources morns the loss of a great environmental leader and friend

Tom Graff, 65, died yesterday, November 11, 2009, after a two-and-a-half year battle with cancer.

In 1971, Tom opened the first California Office of the Environmental Defense Fund and went on to be one of the most influential environmentalists in California water policy during the proceeding 30 years.

In 2008, to honor Tom’s work, as well as a long-standing professional association and friendship, George A. Miller and his wife, Janet A. McKinley, funded the Thomas J. Graff Chair in the College of Natural Resources.

For more information on Tom and his life’s work please see:

August 1, 2009

In Memoriam: Prof. Ned Sylvester

Edward (Ned) Sylvester, professor emeritus of entomology at UC Berkeley, died on Saturday, July 25. He was 89.

Sylvester joined the Department of Entomology at UC Berkeley in 1944. As a teacher, researcher, department chair, dean and finally professor emeritus, Dr. Sylvester made significant contributions to both his field of entomology and to UC Berkeley, and received the Berkeley Citation in 1990.

Ned is survived by Marian, his wife of 67 years, daughter Kathryn Jarrett, son Stephen and grandson Eric.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UC Berkeley Foundation for the Biosciences Library. Contact Kathryn Moriarty Baldwin at moriarty@nature.berkeley.edu for information on making a gift.

December 21, 2007

Donald Kaplan, expert on plant shapes and forms, dies at 69

Donald Robert Kaplan, professor emeritus of plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and an influential expert on the development of the diverse forms and shapes of plants, has died at the age of 69.

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August 4, 2007

Remembering Nathaniel Gerhart

On August 3, 2007, graduate student Nathaniel Gerhart died in a fatal accident while conducting fieldwork in Indonesia. He was 32.

An NSF Fellow in Indonesia, as well as a devoted naturalist, birdwatcher and frisbee player, Gerhart was researching rain forest conservation for his Ph.D. in ESPM.

Nathaniel Gerhart

Services and memorials have been held in Jakarta and in New York, with the New York memorial available via webcast here.

Friends and colleagues will host an on-campus memorial on Sept 23 at 2 p.m., at the Faculty Club.

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