Tech Topics - Winter 2008 - (Page 43)

BURDELL & FRIENDS degree from Georgia State University ended his 40-year career in corporate finance with Scientific Games as the finance manager. Memorials in his name may be made to the Georgia Tech AlexanderTharpe Fund. John “Jack” Walker, IE 60, of Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 15. He retired as plant manager and divisional vice president of Johnson Controls after 40 years of service. Roger H. Weiss, PhD Chem 69, of McKinleyville, Calif., on July 22. Dr. Weiss was a professor emeritus of chemistry at Humboldt State University. Mr. Weiss’ fondness for traveling and bird-watching led him around the world and to sightings of more than 1,000 species. Elise Hill Turner, PhD ICS 89, of Hampden, Maine, on Aug. 14, of biliary tract cancer. An associate professor and chair of the computer science department at the University of Maine, her research focused on artificial intelligence and natural language processing. She was a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers computer science professional societies and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. American Red Cross and was responsible for fundraising that led to the addition of computers, televisions, video game consoles and DVD players at the Aflac Center at Scottish Rite, a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Hospital. She cut the ribbon for the new center at Scottish Rite in March. Taylor’s survivors include her mother, Melissa Webb Brooks, IM 84, and father, Jeff Brooks, ME 84. Ramon Gutierrez Gamoneda, 95, of Atlanta, on Sept. 20. Dr. Gamoneda retired from Tech in 1980 as professor emeritus following 18 years as an industrial management professor at the Institute. Born in Havana, Cuba, he was a partner in the accounting firm of Salas y Gutierrez Ga- In Memoriam 2000s Roy Peter Johnston Jr., CS 05, of Atlanta, on June 9. 1970s Brian W. Hackney, IM 77, of West Linn, Ore., on Aug. 15, after a long bout with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mr. Hackney, who worked as an operations manager with Codel Entry Systems Inc., earned an MBA from Washington State University in 2000. Survivors include his brother, Gary Hackney, ME 81. Verdo M. Harrell, EE 74, of Fayetteville, Ga., on Oct. 7. He was an electrical engineer with Georgia Power for 29 years. Stanley Neal Lowry, AMath 73, of Kernersville, N.C., on Sept. 29. Mr. Lowry was employed in research and development for Krispy Kreme for 35 years and held several patents with the company. Mr. Lowry coached the girls’ softball team at his church for 16 seasons. Dennis Hamilton James Sr., IM 70, of Atlanta, on Sept. 2, after a five-year battle with a brain tumor. In 1977, he became a founding partner of Shoptaw-James, which in 1997 merged with L.J. Melody & Company and in 2007 with CB Richard Ellis, for which he served as senior managing director. Mr. James, who attended Georgia Tech on a football scholarship and lettered from 1967 to ’69, served on the boards of the Alexander-Tharpe Fund and Roberts Realty Inc. Survivors include his son, Dennis H. James Jr., Mgt 92. Memorials in his name may be made to the Alexander-Tharpe Fund. Students Sheila Eshraghi, 18, of Duluth, Ga., on Aug. 1, as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. She was to begin her freshman year at Tech this fall. Born in Tehran, Iran, she moved to the United States with her parents when she was 8 years old. A graduate of Northview High School, she was involved in Mock Trial, the Improv Club and performing arts. Survivors include her father, Kafah Eshraghi, ME 82. Memorials in her name may be made to the Georgia Tech Foundation for the Sheila Eshraghi Fund to provide financial aid to international students. Zachary Earl Wansley, 21, a fourth-year civil engineering major at Georgia Tech, on Sept. 13, while on a 20-mile training run in preparation for a Thanksgiving Day marathon. He had run a half marathon every Thanksgiving Day for the past few years. He ran cross country for Chapel Hill High School in Douglas County and for Georgia Tech during his freshman year. As a co-op student, he worked with Prime Engineering in Atlanta. moneda and a professor at the University of Havana before he escaped the Castro regime and emigrated to America. Jon Johnston, 80, of Atlanta, on Oct. 4. He had been hospitalized since a car crash collapsed his lungs in February. He was a professor of philosophy, science and technology at Georgia Tech from 1967 until the car accident. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and a master’s from the London School of Economics and Political Science and studied at Columbia University. He taught philosophy at Georgia State University from 1956 to 1966. At Georgia Tech, he emphasized the importance of philosophical and critical thought and organized a philosophy club for students and faculty. A memorial service was conducted at the D.M. Smith Building on the Tech campus. Howard Martin McMahon, 81, of Marietta, Ga., on Oct. 5. Dr. McMahon, who received a master’s degree and PhD from the California Institute of Technology, was a professor of aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech for 25 years. He had served on the Archdiocesan Board of Education and the Our Lady of the Assumption school board. Born in Alberta, Canada, Dr. McMahon made a number of trips to Ireland to research his family’s history. Dr. McMahon also loved bluegrass music, and he began playing the banjo at the age of 50. 1980s James DeMott Jordan, Arch 87, of Atlanta, in September. Following graduation from Tech, he returned to his hometown of Moultrie, Ga., to join the architecture firm of the late W. Frank McCall. He continued his career with Norman Davenport Askins AIA and Pak Heydt and Associates. He was a docent at the Atlanta History Center’s Swan House, a member of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and an alumnus of the Attingham Summer School program. He enjoyed collecting antiques and spending time with his Labrador retriever, Henry. Gaye Gwinn Sims, IE 86, of Dunwoody, Ga., on Aug. 22, after a more than two-year battle with plasma cell leukemia. A chartered financial analyst, she was the chief operating officer for Atlantic Investment Co. in Atlanta. She received an MBA from Stanford University. Friends Taylor Ann Brooks, 14, of Lawrenceville, Ga., on April 1, from cancer. She served as the poster child for the fall 2007 blood drive for Georgia Tech’s chapter of the TechTopics | Winter 2008 43

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Tech Topics - Winter 2008 Contents Letters Buzz Around Town Alumni House Rockin’ Good Time State of the Institute The Hill Presidential Search Going Airborne Student Life An Architect’s Eyes Weight Coach Robot Burdell & Friends Ramblin’ Roll Rural Readers Leading Ladies Yellow Jackets Beyond His Years Leading Change Real World

Tech Topics - Winter 2008

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