Volume 29 · Number 4 · Summer 2012
In Memoriam
Della Davidson, Jim Hutchinson and Nicholas Lerche
Faculty
Della Davidson, a dance professor and renowned choreographer, died in March of breast cancer complications. She was 60. In her scholarly work, Professor Davidson merged body movements with narrative elements to tell multimedia stories onstage, many of which are about women and their position in society. She joined the Department of Theatre and Dance in 2001; she launched and directed the Sideshow Physical Theatre, the department's resident professional company.
Jim Hutchinson, a founding professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, died in April after a battle with cancer. He was 79. Professor Hutchinson joined UC Davis in 1964 after working as an engineer for Westinghouse Electrical Corp. and Lockheed Aircraft Corp. Off campus, he co-founded a Yolo County group, Citizens Who Care, that helps elderly residents and their caregivers.
Nicholas Lerche, D.V.M. '79, M.P.V.M. '82, a professor in the department of medicine and epidemiology in the School of Veterinary Medicine and the associate director of the California National Primate Research Center, died in March at age 62. He was a scientist and teacher who trained students and veterinarians from around the world in the study of primate diseases.
Roderick Reid, a physics professor best known for his development of the Reid Potential, died last December at his Davis home. He was 79. Reid's research involving the Reid Potential is one of the first and best known descriptions of the forces between nucleons. He was considered an outstanding teacher whose lectures were highly popular among both undergraduate and graduate students.
Alan Stambusky, a prominent figure in the drama department and area arts scene, died in August 2011 in Vacaville after a period of failing health. He was 82. Professor Stambusky came to UC Davis in 1961, and directed many plays and musical comedies before retiring in 1991. His perspectives were deeply respected on various Academic Senate committees. During his retirement, he launched a videotape project to illuminate campus history through faculty and administrator interviews.
Paul Zinner
Valerie Tumins, a professor who was an expert on Russian history, religion and literature, died in January in Arlington, Va. Professor Tumins, who had dementia, was 88. She was born in Vologda, Russia, and grew up in Riga, Latvia, before moving to the U.S. after World War II. She received a doctorate in Slavic languages and literature from Harvard University. She taught at Brown University and came to UC Davis in 1965. She retired in 1991.
Paul Zinner, a former political science professor and leading Cold War scholar, died in March of congestive heart failure in San Francisco. He was 90. Zinner taught at UC Davis for 30 years and was fluent in German, French, Czech, Hungarian and Russian. He was a widely recognized expert on Soviet and Eastern European affairs and served as the director of the International Relations Program on campus from 1979 to 1985. He was also a past chairman of the Academic Senate and Academic Council of the statewide UC system as well as a commentator on KQED San Francisco's weekly TV program, World Press, from 1963 to 1977.
Staff
Marvin Kinsey, a prolific researcher in the Department of Entomology, died in December 2011 after a long bout with cancer. He was 80. Mr. Kinsey, who came to campus in 1960, invented an electronic monitoring system that enabled scientists to study insect feeding behavior inside plant tissue. A 1994 national scientific symposium honored his contributions.