Tech Topics - Summer 2008 - (Page 39) Burdell&Friends Vietnam, Germany and Belgium. His final Army assignment was as professor of military science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Graham Henderson, EE 63, MS EE 65, of Sandy Springs, Ga., on Jan. 29. He worked as an aerospace engineer for Lockheed-Martin for 35 years and was part of the team that created the first flight simulator for the NASA space shuttle. Craig M. Jorgeson, MS Psy 68, of Chelsea, Mich., on Feb. 25. He worked for the University of Michigan, from which he had received his bachelor’s degree, for more than 25 years, retiring as benefits director in 1997. Joseph Marshall Manion, IM 67, of Chester, Va., on Feb. 1. He was employed by the commonwealth of Virginia with the National Guard. He was a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, the American Institute of Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Public Accountants. William Pancratius Ray II, Cls 60, of Conyers, Ga., on Jan. 25. Mr. Ray ran his own sales agency in Charlotte, N.C., for 13 years and retired in 2000. He previously worked with Gibson Homans Co. for 26 years, living in Conyers, New Orleans and Cleveland and ultimately becoming the company’s senior vice president and general manager. While living in Conyers, he was appointed to the first Citizens Advisory Committee in 1962 and was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. Cliff Thomas, IM 63, of Gulfport, Miss., on March 7. Mr. Thomas, who formed several bands and singing groups while attending Georgia Tech, performed with his brother and sister in The Cliff Thomas Trio. The group recorded on the Sun Records label in Memphis, Tenn., in 1957 and appeared on “American Bandstand” in 1958. Several of Mr. Thomas’ songs made it onto the national charts, and he was nominated for a Grammy in 1968. Following service as a commissioned officer in the Army, he oversaw manufacturing operations of the family business, Norman Georgia Tech Alumnus, Researcher Charles Cleveland harles Cleveland, an alumnus with three Georgia Tech degrees and a researcher in the School of Physics for nearly 30 years, died Jan. 27 after a 17month battle with pancreatic cancer. Since 2001, Dr. Cleveland had worked to explain the properties of DNA damage implicated as the source for chemical changes underlying the development of cancer in humans. According to Uzi Landman, Regents professor and Fuller E. Callaway chair in computational materials science at Georgia Tech, Dr. Cleveland was diagnosed with cancer on the same day that some of his work was accepted for publication. He continued to work throughout treatment. Landman said Dr. Cleveland made significant contributions to the development of computational methodologies and to the understanding of complex problems in a broad spectrum of fields ranging from the melting of materials to the arrangements of atoms in nanoscale crystals to the nature of collisions of clusters with solid surfaces. Following graduation, Dr. Cleveland, Phys 71, MS Phys 75, PhD Phys 78, taught physics at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro for a year before returning to Tech to join Landman’s research group in the School of Physics. He ultimately became a senior research scientist. Dr. Cleveland’s work appeared in more than 65 publications. He played a key role in the creation and development of the Georgia Tech Center for Computational Materials Science. “He earned the respect of his peers, faculty and students alike as a bright, original, helpful, kind and compassionate colleague, who, along with his own research activities, worked selflessly to promote and foster the work of others,” Landman said. Florida in 1963 and served a term as city councilman for Belle Isle. He served in the Air Force, flying the T-6 trainer and F-80. Paul Bennett Yeske, EE 64, of Roswell, Ga., on March 7. Mr. Yeske worked as an electrical engineer for AT&T for 31 years. After graduating from Georgia Tech, Mr. Yeske served in the Army for three years, including one year in Vietnam. Shirtmakers, in Jackson, Miss., but continued to work in the music industry, owning radio stations and a recording studio and writing and performing music. One collaboration produced a gold record, “Pickin’ Wild Mountain Berries.” In 1996, he moved to Gulfport, where he worked in commercial real estate. T. Lewis Thompson, ChE 61, of Tucson, Ariz., on Nov. 28. Mr. Thompson was a senior research engineer with the Environmental Research Laboratory at the University of Arizona, for which he had worked since 1973. He previously was chief of research for Life Support Inc. Research Laboratory in Melbourne, Fla. Mr. Thompson was awarded 26 patents and was the author or co-author of 54 scientific papers and reports. A co-op student and member of Chi Phi fraternity at Tech, he also was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Evaporative Cooling Institute and Sigma Xi. Survivors include his brother, Robert Lee Thompson, IM 57. Hugh Walter Tracy Sr., BC 61, of Savannah, Ga., on Feb. 6. Following graduation, Mr. Tracy worked in real estate development and in 1967 began a 38-year career as a McDonald’s franchisee when he joined Jaycee friends to operate several of the restaurants in the Atlanta area. In 1975, he moved to Savannah to extend the fast food chain’s reach. He led the effort to build the Savannah Ronald McDonald House, which opened in 1987. A member of the city’s Rotary Club, Mr. Tracy served as chairman of the Coastal Empire Council for Boy Scouts of America; the Savannah Economic Development Authority, by which he later was named a lifetime honorary member; and the board of trustees for the Savannah Country Day School. William Carlton “Billy” Warren II, IE 66, of Wadmalaw Island, S.C., on March 23. Mr. Warren was a retired systems analyst at the Tennessee Eastman Chemical Co. An Army veteran, he volunteered at the South Carolina Aquarium and helped with sea turtle relocation at Cape Romaine with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. He also was a wine connoisseur and once owned a vineyard. Philip E. Whelchel, IM 60, of Orlando, Fla., on March 3. Mr. Whelchel, a manufacturer’s representative who sold water, sewer and drainage products to cities and municipalities, retired from Johns Manville. He moved to central 1970s Alan Lamar Blalock, ME 76, of Gainesville, Ga., on March 18. Mr. Blalock was a retired mechanical engineer. Paul Wesley Chapman Jr., EES 75, of Naperville, Ill., on Jan. 22. An engineer, Mr. Chapman retired from Lucent Technologies. He had served as a first lieutenant in the Army. David C. Conrad, MS EE 74, of Columbia, Tenn., on Oct. 12, following a series of strokes. Mr. Conrad retired from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as deputy associate director of electronics engineering in 2006. He was a former test director at the Nevada test site. In 1991, he created the Livermore Valley Education Foundation in response to the school district’s proposal to make large cuts in sports and music programs. Since its creation, the nonprofit foundation has raised nearly $2 million for the school district. Mr. Conrad also was a member of the Livermore Chamber of Commerce’s business and education committee, the school district’s fiscal policy advisory committee and Las Positas College’s extended opportunity program advisory board. Henry J. “Hank” Eiden, MS InfoSci 70, of Charlottesville, Va., on April 8. In 1981, the same year that he retired from a lengthy Air Force career, Lt. Col. Eiden founded Eiden Enterprises Inc. to bring high-skilled computer consulting to government agencies in the central Virginia area. Now Eiden Systems Corp., the company continues to provide support to the Department of Defense and commonwealth of Virginia. His last tour of duty was as deputy director of information systems at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. His awards include the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross. During retirement, Mr. Eiden was active in the Boy Scouts and ballroom dancing, opening the Virginia Dance Sport Academy, which prepared dancers for area competitions. Roddie Reagan Judkins, PhD Chem 70, of Knoxville, Tenn., on Oct. 19. Dr. Judkins was a fossil energy manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His pastimes included restoring his 1969 Oldsmobile. Terry Olin Rhodes, EE 77, of Pineview, Ga., on March 31. At the time of his death, he was the chief engineer at Northrop Grumman in Warner Robins, Ga. He was a deacon, Sunday school director and teacher at Friendship Baptist Church. George G. Riles, IM 70, of Albany, Ga., on March 23. Following military service, he worked for the Robinson Humphrey Co. in Albany before opening the Merrill Lynch office in 1979. He served as resident director and was included in the Merrill Lynch Circle of Excellence until his retirement in 2003. He served as an Army captain in Korea. Mr. Riles was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Georgia Tech. TECHTOPICS | SUMMER 2008
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.