In Memoriam: Faculty & Friends

Notices sorted by graduation date

Theodore “Ted” Caplow of Charlottesville and Islesboro, Maine, died July 4, 2015. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Before arriving at the University in 1970, Mr. Caplow taught at the University of Minnesota and Columbia University. He taught at UVA for many years and chaired the sociology department from 1970 to 1978 and again from 1984 to 1986, recruiting social thinkers from around the country to build the department. He published The Sociology of Work, his first book, in 1954, and wrote many more books and articles throughout his career, most recently Armageddon Postponed: A Different View of Nuclear Weapons (2010). A large portion of Mr. Caplow’s career was dedicated to the analysis of long-term social trends, and he contributed scholarship to the “Middletown” series of books examining religion, culture and family relationships in middle America throughout the 20th century. He was a visiting scholar in France four times (including at the Sorbonne in 1983) and taught in Holland, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Italy, Norway and Spain as well. Mr. Caplow retired from the University in 2005 and was later a shipboard professor with Semester at Sea in 2007. A passionate and unconventional sportsman, he learned to ride a horse, fly a plane and sail a boat, and enjoyed many years of foxhunting in Albemarle County. He loved to be at sea most of all, and in addition to sailing throughout the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and in Maine, he captained two voyages eastbound across the Atlantic Ocean. He also founded the Albemarle Yacht Club in 1989. Mr. Caplow spent many summers in Dark Harbor, Maine, where he raced sailboats and played golf and tennis. He played the flute and piano and enjoyed opera, and served on the board of many cultural institutions, including the Tocqueville Society, the Century Association and the Charlottesville Committee on Foreign Relations. He was also a member of the Wednesday Breakfast Club, the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda and many other organizations. Survivors include his wife, seven children, 10 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and a sister.

James G. Simmonds (L/M) of Charlottesville died April 12, 2015. He was professor emeritus of structural and solid mechanics in the department of civil and environmental engineering. Mr. Simmonds joined the School of Engineering and Applied Science faculty in 1966 as a member of the department of applied mathematics and computer science after completing postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He focused his research on the linear and nonlinear theory of plates and shells and made outstanding contributions to that field, publishing more than 120 papers, three books, and translating an advanced text from French to English. Throughout his career he received numerous awards and honors, including the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Professor Award in 1983, the Mac Wade Award of the School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1980 and the 2011 Warner T. Koiter Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was also a fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics. Mr. Simmonds retired in 1998, but continued to serve the University in various ways, including through his involvement as a national selection committee member and math examiner with the Jefferson Scholars program. In addition to his academic career, Mr. Simmonds supported many causes and organizations; in 2001, he received the Volunteer of the Year Award from The Nature Conservancy of Virginia. He was a kind and generous man who loved teaching, community service and spending time with his family and friends. Survivors include his wife, two daughters, five stepchildren, a grandson, many step-grandchildren and three siblings.

Theodore R.F. Wright of Charlottesville died Oct. 15, 2014. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. From 1959 to 1965, Mr. Wright was an assistant professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He joined the UVA faculty in 1965 and taught biology until his retirement in 1995. He spent many happy summers at Wright’s Wroost, his home in Jefferson, Maine. Survivors include a sister and 10 nieces.