In Memoriam: Faculty & Friends

Notices sorted by graduation date

Stanley “Stan” Berent of Ann Arbor, Michigan, died August 25, 2015. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1959 to 1963. After his service, he attended Old Dominion University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1966. He completed a master’s degree at the Richmond Professional Institute, now part of Virginia Commonwealth University, and a doctorate at Rutgers University. He began his career as assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, where he taught from 1972 until 1979. In 1979, he moved to Ann Arbor, where he worked at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Center and at the University of Michigan as professor of psychology. Dr. Berent was the chief of psychology service at the VAMC from 1979 to 1986. He also founded the neuropsychology program at the University of Michigan, which he directed from 1979 until 2001. He served as chief of psychology in the department of psychiatry from 1993 to 2001 and co-directed the neurobehavioral toxicology program from 1997 to 2007. The author of many manuscripts, books and book chapters, he served on multiple committees, including the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs. In 2005, he became an active professor emeritus. In honor of his achievements in research and teaching, the University of Michigan has created the Stanley Berent Memorial Fund. Survivors include his wife, three daughters and a brother.

Lucy McIlwaine Hale of Charlottesville died March 25, 2017. She attended Southern College. In 1960, she accepted the position of assistant to Edward Younger, a professor of history and the foreign student adviser at the University of Virginia. After seeing rapid turnover in the foreign student adviser’s office, Ms. Hale took over the position and began to stabilize the office and expand the adviser’s role. She was the first female administrator on a nonacademic track at the University. She developed an English language program for nonnative speakers. She began the tradition of local families hosting international students for holiday meals. She also established the University’s first host family program for international students in 1964. In 1972, Ms. Hale established an international center on Grounds to serve as a meeting place for foreign students. The center, now known as the Lorna Sundberg International Center, provides educational and social programs for students, scholars, faculty, family members and Charlottesville residents. She retired as director of the International Student Affairs Office, now the International Studies Office, in 1986. During her tenure, the University’s international community expanded from 55 students in 1960 to 750 in 1986. In retirement, she turned her attention to gardening and landscaping. Survivors include her daughter, Lucy Pryor McIlwaine Hale (Educ ’72, Grad ’90); her son, William Newton Hale III (Col ’72); and four granddaughters, including Martha Grace Hale (Col ’14).

John Charles Knight of Charlottesville died February 23, 2017. He earned his doctorate in computer science from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England in 1973. After two years at West Virginia University and seven years at the NASA Langley Research Center, he became an associate professor of computer science at the University of Virginia in 1981. He taught software engineering and discrete math. In 2006, he received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society’s Harlan D. Mills Award. He also received the 2008 Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Software Engineering. In 2009, he founded Dependable Computing, an applied research firm. Mr. Knight published Fundamentals of Dependable Computing for Software Engineers in 2012. He retired in June 2016. Survivors include his wife, Virginia Knight (Engr ’83, ’85 L/M); a son; and two daughters.

Morton C. “M.C.” Wilhelm (Med ’47 L/M) of Charlottesville died January 18, 2017. He attended the Virginia Military Institute and participated in the Army Specialized Training Program from 1943 to 1946. After completing his medical degree at the University of Virginia, he received surgical training at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, Washington, from 1947 to 1951. He was an Army surgeon at Camp Polk, Louisiana from 1951 to 1953. Dr. Wilhelm returned to Seattle, completing his surgical fellowship at Virginia Mason Hospital in 1953. He practiced in Seattle until 1956, when he came back to Charlottesville to practice surgery at Martha Jefferson Hospital. He was on the clinical faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and became a professor of surgery in 1980. In his time at the medical school, he served as head of the division of surgical oncology, director of the breast clinic and breast resource center, and director for outreach education at the cancer center. He was named the Joseph Helms Farrow professor emeritus, and the Wilhelm Chair for Diseases of the Breast was established in his honor in 1993. Dr. Wilhelm served on the boards of numerous medical organizations and was president of the Virginia Surgical Society and both the Charlottesville branch and the Virginia state division of the American Cancer Society. He was a mountaineer, a marathon runner and an avid tennis and golf player. Survivors include his wife, two daughters and three grandsons.