Notices sorted by graduation date.

Ralph Cohen of Charlottesville died Feb. 23, 2016. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, Mr. Cohen taught at the City College of New York for three years and at the University of California, Los Angeles for 17 years. He joined the University of Virginia faculty as a professor of English in 1967 and retired as William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus in 2009. In 1969, Mr. Cohen established the journal New Literary History, the first English-language journal devoted to literary theory and the first journal to introduce the thought of many literary theorists from Europe and Asia to an English-speaking audience. He edited the journal from 1969 to 2009. A member of both the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, he received a number of fellowships and scholarly awards and was a visiting professor at institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Survivors include a son and a daughter.

William “Bill” Lucy of Charlottesville died April 7, 2016. He was a professor of urban planning in the School of Architecture. Before arriving at the University, he worked as a newspaper journalist in Utica, New York, as chief policy adviser to the mayor of Utica and taught at Utica College. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he worked on political campaigns, including Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. He also served as director of policy planning for Syracuse, New York, from 1970 to 1972 before leaving politics to pursue a career in academia. Mr. Lucy began his academic career teaching urban planning at the University of Virginia in 1975. He performed many roles at the University, including as chair of the urban planning department from 1990 to 1992 and as associate dean from 1997 to 1999, in the fall of 2003 and from 2008 to 2010. In 2006, the School of Architecture named him the Lawrence Lewis Jr. Professor of Architecture, a professorship he held until his retirement in 2014. Much of his work focused on the challenges facing cities and suburbs. He wrote numerous articles and books, including Foreclosing the Dream: How America’s Housing Crisis Is Reshaping Our Cities and Suburbs, which the American Library Association’s Choice magazine named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2010. Mr. Lucy was passionate about Downtown Charlottesville, where he lived for nearly 40 years, and was active in civic affairs, serving as chair of Charlottesville’s Social Development Commission and vice chair and chair of the Planning Commission, among others. In recognition of his public service, he received the Citizen Community Service Award from the Central Virginia chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2012. Mr. Lucy was a “numbers guy” who never sought recognition and thrived on involvement in his community. Survivors include his wife; two sons, Michael S. Lucy (Arch ’98) and Zachary M. Lucy (Col ’07 L/M); two daughters, including Rachel J. Lucy (Col ’12, Com ’13); two granddaughters; and two sisters.