Recent Emeriti News

(If you have a news item that you want to share with other members of the Emeriti, please email it to Mark Shapiro - )

We have added a new feature to our CSUF Emeriti News Page. The CSU-ERFA "news box" on the left includes links to recent news of interest to all retired faculty and staff members from the California State University Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association. (If you don't see the news box, refresh your browser and it should load.)

February 2012

New tributes for Earnest A. Becker, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and for Leroy Joesink-Mandeville, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus have been added to our Tributes page, along with two additional tributes for Otto von Sadovszky, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus.

Rodger D. Vaughan, Professor of Music Emeritus, died unexpectedly at his home in Palmer Lake, Colorado. His body was discovered January 22. A retired music professor, he had taught at California State University-Fullerton for over 30 years.

Born February 2, 1932 in Delphos, Kansas, his father, Everett, was a Methodist minister and his mother, Mildred, was a bookkeeper and an admirer of the performing arts. Rodger attended schools in Winona, Pretty Prairie, Peabody and Halstead, Kansas. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Kansas in 1953. After serving in the U. S. Army, he returned to Kansas and earned his Master of Music degree at the University of Wichita (now Wichita State University) in 1956. Rodger moved to California in 1960 where he enrolled in the Doctorate program at the University of Southern California. He completed the requirements for the DMA degree, except for the dissertation.

Rodger’s musical education began at age 4½ when he took piano lessons and then violin lessons. At age 12 he took up the sousaphone. He played brass base through high school, college, the Army and graduate school. In 1957 he joined the Wichita Symphony, where he played tuba for three years. Rodger taught at the University of Wichita (1956-1960), the University of Southern California, Upland College (California) and California State University-Fullerton (1965-1999).

Rodger has been called the “Father of the Tuba-Euphonium Quartet,” having written more compositions and arrangements than anyone else. In 1959 he composed the Concertpiece No. 1 for tuba and piano--the piece continues to be included in high school and college concerts. In 1961, his Centennial Symphony was selected as the official orchestral composition for the Kansas Centennial celebration. In 1975, he and Jim Self produced the first West Coast Octubafest at California State University-Fullerton. Rodger’s arrangements for the Tubadours, the first professional tuba quartet, number over 50. His arrangements for the famous Miraphone Quartet Books are still available. His compositions are still in great demand and his music is still being performed by America’s best tubists and tuba ensembles.

Rodger followed University of Kansas basketball and the National Football League. He was known for his sense of humor, artistic writing, and his love of teaching. He is survived by his son, Ed Vaughan of Wichita; daughter, Judy Vaughan of California; granddaughter, Christina Vaughan of Wichita; niece, Lynn Ross of Pennsylvania; and nephew, George Ross of Indiana.

A graveside service at Highland Cemetery in Winfield, Kansas will be held at a later date. Cards to the family can be sent to: P.O. Box 2791, Laguna Hills, CA 92654. In addition, the Cal State Fullerton Music Department is planning an event to remember Professor Vaughan.

January 2012

As you may have noticed it has been some time since we updated our Emeriti website. The reason for this is that the President's Office began an initiative to increase communications with the members of the Emeriti directly from the office. The intention was that both the Emeriti email list and the Emeriti website would be maintained by the President's Office. However, owing to staffing problems, only the Emeriti email list part of the project has been completed. And, it appears that it will be some time before the new website will go online. In the meanwhile we will try to keep this site updated periodically.

To begin, let me mention that we experienced a real treat at our January Emeriti Luncheon where Professor Henry N. Pontell from U.C., Irvine presented a talk entitled "Too Big to Fail? Too Powerful to Indict? On the Absence of Criminal Prosecutions After the 2008 Financial Meltdown." Not only was the talk extremely interesting, but the Q&A session that followed was particularly lively. For those of you who were not able to attend, we recorded videos of both the talk and the Q&A session that have been posted to YouTube.

The first video shows approximately the first two-thirds of the talk. The second shows the remaining third of the talk and the question and answer session. Just click inside each video box to start it playing.

Part 1.

Part 2

We also have some recent deaths to report. Wayne Huebner, Professor of English Emeritus, passed away on September 27, 2011; Emma Holmes, Professor of Education and Child Development Emeritus passed away on October 18, 2011; Gene Murphy, Football Coach Emeritus, passed away on October 29, 2011; and, Donald Finn, Professor of Theater and Dance Emeritus, passed away on November 28, 2011.

August 2011

Karl H. Kahrs, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, passed away on August 7th. A memorial service is being planned, and we will post the details when they are available.

Meanwhile we want to share with you the following message from Karl's son Till that was sent to Raphe Sonenshein, Chair of the Political Science Department:

From: Till Kahrs
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 12:17 AM
Subject: Dr. Karl H. Kahrs (my Dad) 1931-2011 RIP

Dear Friends and Family, I regret to let you know that my father, Dr. Karl H. Kahrs passed away on August 7, 2011. He had been battling Parkinson’s Disease for many years and an unfortunate tumble down the stairs at his home in Laguna Beach three weeks ago landed him in the hospital where he ultimately passed on. I had a chance to spend several days with my Dad in May of this year fortunately, and he let me know that he felt as though he had had a full and complete life. For those of you who got to know Karl more intimately, he lived his life the way he wanted and did the things that he wanted to do. As he shared with me in May, I can only agree that he had a rich life, and we should all be so lucky. To that end please don’t be sad about the situation, but instead remember him and celebrate the truly remarkable life that he had. He immigrated to the US from Germany, went back to school and received his Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara and had a 30 year run as a faculty member at Cal State Fullerton. He had a chance to see the world and had teaching sabbatical stops back in his native Germany as well as in England. And needless to say Karl was a highly respected intellectual by his peers and colleagues.

I will always remember playing tennis with him on Sunday mornings when I was an adolescent and still living at home, and I will remember him as a stern father, but one who I always respected and loved nonetheless. Karl was a kind, giving man, and always had ‘integrity’ in everything that he did. That’s how I will honor his memory.

One of the last nights I saw Karl this year and before he had his fall, I suddenly felt moved to sing to him a cappella one of my favorite songs made famous by Elvis and Sinatra, “My Way” as the words simply poured out of me spontaneously. As I reached the chorus the last time in this classic tune, the tears unexpectedly started rolling down my face and Karl shed a tear as well…as we both probably somehow knew “the end was near”…

Karl lived his life “his way” so please celebrate that, hold him close in your heart, and if you are so inclined have a drink (perhaps a Gin and Tonic or glass of wine) in his honor. That’s what he would want you to do.

Eileen Langsdorf, widow of founding CSU Fullerton President William B. (Bill) Langsdorf died on June 7, 2011 at the age of 91. We received the following message from Norma Morris regarding her passing. The message was sent by Bill's daughter-in-law Mary:

Gerald F. "Jerry" Brem, Professor of Geological Sciences Emeritus, died on July 11 at age 66 from the complications of a brain tumor. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from U.C., Riverside. He came to the Fullerton campus in 1976 and served for 28 years, teaching courses in mineralogy and crystallography, petrology, petrography, physical and field geology. During his tenure, he served as department chair for seven years and designed a new graduate program; was a member of several department, school and university committees; and garnered grants that supported undergraduate geochemistry instruction and research. Brem also taught special courses at UC Rverside and served as a field trip leader for the U.S. Geologic Service for six years. He is survived by his wife, Shira, and children Lindy and Matthew. A memorial is scheduled for Aug. 14 in Chino Hills. More information is available by emailing geology@fullerton.edu.

Robert M. (Bob) Barath, Professor of Marketing Emeritus, died on June 27, 2011 from a head injury incurred while camping in Yosemite National Park with his wife and two grandsons. Professor Barath joined the faculty at Cal State Fullerton in 1974, and he was granted emeritus status in 2001. He held a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Cleveland State University, and a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Kentucky State University.

Bob was an Army veteran. He and his wife Janet celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May of this year. In addition to his wife Janet, Bob is survived by his brother James, his sons David, Robert and Christopher, his daughter Lynn, and two grandsons Jacob and Samuel.

Charles C. (Charley) Lambert, Professor of Biological Sciences Emeritus and the 1986 Outstanding Professor Award recipient, died on June 1 following a massive stroke at the age of 76. Lambert, who served the campus for 28 years, was a biologist of international renown for his work on tunicates — a small group of marine organisms that include ascidians, ancestors of vertebrates, including man. He was perhaps best known for his research of sea squirts, tiny marine animals that he used for the study of fertilization; the title of his outstanding professor lecture was “Sex and the Single Sea Squirt.” A prolific author, Lambert's work was published in such journals as Science, American Zoologist and the Journal of Cell Biology. He also traveled widely, presenting papers at international conferences, lecturing at other universities and spending summers and sabbaticals studying and teaching at marine laboratories across the country. Lambert was a member of the Western Society of Naturalists, serving as the organization’s president in 1982. He also was a member of the International Society of Developmental Biologists, American Society of Zoologists, International Cell Research Organization and Society of Developmental Biology. Lambert earned his doctorate in zoology from the University of Washington and conducted postdoctoral studies at Friday Harbor Laboratories. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Gretchen, and his two daughters, Edie and Ilsa.

A memorial scholarship in Charley's name is being planned for students in the Department of Biological Sciences. More information will be provided when those plans are finalized.

The May 2011 Emeriti Luncheon was held at the Alta Vista Country Club in Plancentia. Entertainment was provided by the Rosary High School Choir. The video below shows them singing "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.

The UNIVERSITY CLUB

AN INVITATION TO JOIN

(Free… really!)

(Note from your webmaster: Tony Rimmer, Director of the Faculty Development Center, recently sent me email about the newly-formed University Club. The Club is open to all faculty (including Emeriti) as well as staff and administrators. If you are interested in participating, please contact Tony Rimmer (his email is listed below) to be placed on the mailing list.)

The University Club is a relatively new campus organization of faculty, staff and administrators who support, sponsor, and host a number of community enhancing and cultural activities throughout the year. The University Club is an unofficial, loosely organized group that seeks to encourage social and intellectual interactions and strengthen the campus community.

Any member of the university community is welcome to join at no membership cost. All it takes to join is to respond to this message and you will be placed on the University Club e-mail list. There is no obligation. You will receive a limited number of announcements each year about upcoming activities and you can unsubscribe at any time. While most of these activities will be open to the entire university community, some will be announced only to individuals who are on the University Club mailing list.

The type of activities we intend to sponsor include a variety of events, such as theatre outings, faculty presentations, family picnics, field trips, docent museum tours, sporting activities, and purely social gatherings. We will also support similar events put on by other campus groups. A partial listing of some activities for this fall include:

v Docent tour of the Mummies exhibit at the Bowers Museum followed by a no-host lunch at Tangata (November 13, 11 am-2 pm, $25/ticket). See attachment for more details.

v Guided tour of our new Performing Arts Center with theatres and concert hall (Fri, Oct. 7, 2:00-3:30 pm). See attachment for more details.

v Third Thursday’s at the Campus Pub

v Brown bag lunch talks

v A night at the theatre

v Holiday party at the home of Reyes Fidalgo

More details on these events are forthcoming, so if you are on the University Club mailing list, you will receive more information in the future! So come join this group of delightful, fun-loving and interesting colleagues!

If you are interested in participating, simply respond to this message by sending an email to Tony Rimmer and indicate either:

Yes, I want to be on the University Club mailing list.

Yes, I want to be on the University Club mailing list, AND participate in planning events.

For more information contact:

Vince Buck, vbuck@fullerton.edu

Reyes Fidalgo, rfidalgo@fullerton.edu

Tony Rimmer, trimmer@fullerton.edu

Diana Guerin, dguerin@fullerton.edu

Jack Bedell, jbedell@fullerton.ed

In Memoriam

During the past year several members of the Emeriti of California State University, Fullerton passed away. They include:

Rodger D. Vaughan, Professor of Music, Emeritus
Donald Finn, Professor of Theater and Dance, Emeritus

Gene Murphy, Football Coach, Emeritus

Emma Holmes, Professor of Education and Child Development, Emeritus

Wayne Huebner, Professor of English, Emeritus

Karl H. Kahrs, Professor of Political Science, Emeritus
Gerald F. Brem, Professor of Geological Sciences, Emeritus
Robert M. Barath, Professor of Marketing, Emeritus.
Charles C. Lambert, Professor of Biological Sciences, Emeritus.

Arthur D. Earick, Professor of Geography, Emeritus.

Judith (Judy) Byrnes, Special Events Coordinator, Emeritus.
Tai K. Oh, Professor of Management Emeritus.
Granville W. Hough, Professor of Management Emeritus.
Levern F. Graves, Professor of Economics Emeritus.
Paul W. Kane, Professor of Secondary Education Emeritus.
Sidney Klein, Professor of Economics Emeritus.
Robert G. Fecarotta, Associate Director of Analytical Studies Emeritus.
Elmer L. Johnson, Professor of Physical Education Emeritus.

Gene H. Dippel, Assoc. Vice President for Information and Telecommunication Services Emeritus.
Dorothea Kenny, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Emeritus.
Ronald J. Crowley, Professor of Physics, Emeritus.
Robert Rayfield, Professor of Communications, Emeritus.
John B. Sweeney, Registrar, Emeritus.
Elaine Hutchison, Administrative Assistant, Emeritus.
Corinne Shear Wood, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus.
Charles S. Shapley, Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures - French Literature, Emeritus.


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