1945
Lawrence S. Ross, physician and artist, Voorhees, N.J., on April 15, 2023. Raised on Long Island, Ross was an award-winning artist from youth. He was a reporter in post-war Japan for two years before earning an M.D. from VP&S in 1951. After pediatrics residency at Cornell-NYH, he practiced in his Huntington, N.Y., offices for 15 years and was president of the Suffolk County Pediatrics Society. After a second residency in radiology, Ross practiced on Long Island and in Florida for another 30 years. He showed and sold his paintings and sculpture in galleries in New York and Florida and twice exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ross enjoyed traveling the world with his wife, Marilyn, who predeceased him in 2003. Survivors include his son, David ’80; grandson, Benjamin ’26; and granddaughter, Audrey ’27.
1948
Norman M. Levy, psychiatrist, New York City, on March 2, 2023. Born in Antwerp, Levy moved to New York with his family when he was 3 and graduated from the NYU School of Medicine. He was a resident at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens before treating patients in Manhattan as a psychiatrist. In retirement, he sculpted at the Art Students League and explained fossils at the American Museum of Natural History. Levy is survived by his wife, Helene; daughters, Lisa LAW’90 and Gina; son, Cliff; and three grandchildren.
1953
Richard D. Beckman, English professor, Philadelphia, on March 7, 2023. A graduate of Brooklyn Tech H.S. in 1950, Beckman majored in English and studied with Lionel Trilling CC 1925, GSAS’38 and Moses Hadas. After graduating a year early, he earned an M.A. from Rochester in 1954 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1962. He then joined the faculty at Temple, where he remained until his retirement in the 1990s. A passionate scholar of James Joyce and particularly Finnegan’s Wake, Beckman published two books after his retirement, Joyce’s Rare View (2007) and Charm in Literature (2019). He is survived by his daughter, Helen Beckman Kaplan; son, Peregrine ’84 (Elizabeth Arwen Leicester ’87); and three grandchildren, including Eleanor ’16.
1956
H. Michael Grant, psychiatrist, New York City, on March 26, 2023. Grant graduated from New York Medical College and was a psychiatric resident at Harlem Hospital. He was in private practice for 63 years and also volunteered in Lenox Hill Hospital’s ER. Grant loved adventure and world travel, and his innate curiosity led him to explore music, movies, reading, woodworking, growing bonsai and orchids, and fixing things. Above all, he loved talking to his patients, once telling a granddaughter that there was never a day when he was not excited to go to work. Grant is survived by his daughter, Erika; son, Adam; six grandchildren; partner, Patricia Booth; and sister, Brendi Drosnes.
1959
Stephen A. Kallis Jr., public relations executive, Temple Terrace, Fla., on March 29, 2023. Born on April 24, 1937, in New York City, Kallis was in the Navy ROTC program and joined the Navy Reserves in Upstate New York. He had a lifelong passion for space exploration, rockets and Captain Midnight, and fulfilled one of his dreams by working for the space program in Huntsville, Ala. Kallis later worked in public relations for Chrysler and Digital Electronics. He authored three books, including Radio’s Captain Midnight: The Wartime Biography Book. Kallis was predeceased by his wife, Carmen Opreah; and is survived by a sister, Dorothy Jeanne Ahlers.
Uriel Nauenberg, physics professor, on December 31, 2019. Born on December 16, 1938, in Berlin, Nauenberg’s family escaped to Colombia one month later and settled in Baranquilla. As a 16-year-old high school senior, he was sent to the United States to attend Riverdale Country Day School. After earning a Ph.D. in physics from GSAS in 1963, Nauenberg became an assistant professor at Princeton before moving in 1969 to the University of Colorado, where he was a faculty member for 42 years and then an Emeritus Professor. In 2004, he was awarded the Hazel Barnes Prize, Colorado’s highest recognition for teaching and research across all disciplines. Nauenberg is survived by his wife, Jeanne; daughter, Terri (Olav Solgaard); son, Eric (Michelle); seven grandchildren; and sister, Lucrecia Sachs.
Norman Vieira, law professor, Myrtle Beach, S.C., on August 11, 2022. Born on March 18, 1937, in New Bedford, Mass., Vieira graduated from Chicago Law and clerked for an Illinois Supreme Court Justice before becoming a law professor specializing in constitutional law and civil rights. He taught at Idaho Law, UCLA and Southern Illinois, and also was an accomplished author who published books on civil rights and the Supreme Court appointment process. Vieira is survived by his wife of 32 years, Michelle; and sons, Norman and Noah (Megan). He was predeceased by another son, Joseph.
1960
George J. Camarinos, gastroenterologist, St. Petersburg, Fla., on February 16, 2023. Born and raised in the Bronx, Camarinos was valedictorian at DeWitt Clinton H.S. and went on to New York Medical School. During his time at Columbia, he had a successful music career as a pianist who wrote and performed his own songs, had recording deals with major labels and starred in a movie,
Girl Fever. He went by several different names in show business, including George Cameron and George Camarinos II. Camarinos gave up his music career to focus on medicine, practicing in New York and then Florida, where he was the first gastroenterologist to perform colonoscopies in the Tampa Bay area. He kept writing music throughout his life. Camarinos was predeceased by his son, Demetrios, and sisters, Paula and Jeanne, and is survived by his daughter, Maria Camarinos Hall (Mark); son, George II; and two grandchildren.
Michael N. Sohn, attorney, Washington, D.C., on March 22, 2022. Born in 1940 and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Sohn graduated from Stuyvesant H.S. at 16; he majored in history and was a Sachem at Columbia before graduating with honors from Harvard Law. After serving in the Air Force, he worked at the National Labor Relations Board 1964–69 before joining Arnold & Porter, where he made partner in 1972. Sohn was general counsel of the Federal Trade Commission 1977–80 before returning to Arnold & Porter, becoming chairman in 1996. A nationally recognized expert in antitrust law, Sohn was honored in 2008 at the 30th anniversary of the
Legal Times as one of “30 visionary business leaders who turned the Washington legal community into an international powerhouse.” In 2010, he retired due to mandatory age limitations at Arnold & Porter and joined Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he continued to practice until age 77. Sohn is survived by his wife, Sylvia; daughter, Samantha (David); son, Jonathan (Devorah); and five grandchildren.
1963
Barry M. Austern, biochemist, Cincinnati, on April 11, 2023. Austern was valedictorian of his high school class and earned a Pulitzer Scholarship to Columbia, where he worked on Spectator and the Columbian. He earned a master’s at NYU and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from UMass. Austern worked at the Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati for his entire career. He was a private pilot, photographer, cyclist and avid computer user, and was very involved in Jewish studies. Austern is survived by his wife, Susan; daughter, Heather Austern Price (Adam); sister, Ann Sullo (Charles); and two grandchildren.
Michael D. Nolan, community organizer, San Francisco, on April 8, 2023. Born in Brooklyn on June 21, 1941, Nolan attended rallies and protests as a teenager and titled his College thesis
A History of Negro Protest. He led students to attend the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. After spending time in Chile with the Peace Corps, Nolan moved in 1970 to San Francisco, where he was a community organizer. He was involved in dozens of projects that ranged from public-housing rehabilitation to the creation of the Esmeralda Mini-Park on Bernal Hill. He also was an avid genealogist, offering to unearth information on the ancestors of his friends and neighbors in the Mission District, where he was known as “the mayor of Elsie Street.” Nolan was predeceased by a brother and is survived by a sister as well as his children, Mac and Rosy.
1964
Lewis M. Gardner, writer and actor, Lake Hill, N.Y., on August 3, 2020. A graduate of Wilmington (Mass.) H.S., Gardner did graduate work at Chicago and served in the Peace Corps in Liberia. He was a high school English teacher, an editor at Scholastic and worked in hospital and university administration, including at SUNY Ulster. Gardner taught a local writing class, volunteered at the Woodstock Library Fair and was a published poet. He was a member of the Dramatists’ Guild and the author of many plays who also acted in theater, television and film. Gardner is survived by his wife of 51 years, Sandra; son, Jonathan (Katrina); stepdaughters, Barbara Platek (Art Lustgarten) and Brenda Tobias; and one grandchild.
Peter K. Machamer, educator, historian and philosopher of science, Pittsburgh, on May 31, 2023. Machamer was a Fulbright Scholar who earned an additional B.A., and an M.A., from Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Chicago before teaching at Pittsburgh for 40 years. A world-renowned scholar, his research focused on the 17th-century history of philosophy and science, on Galileo Galilei and René Descartes in particular, and on values and science. Machamer was a globe-trotting visiting professor and a voluminous author whose
Thinking About Mechanisms is one of the most highly cited works in science philosophy. He was also a wine columnist for the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 15 years. Machamer is survived by his wife, Barbara Diven Machamer; children, Blake (Ginni), Mignonne Rebecca Stanley (Chris), Amanda Becker (Robert Westmont), Tara Gainfort (Burlton Griffith) and Michael Gainfort; brother, Lance (Nancy); sisters, Wendy Walsh (John Weed) and Julie Farabee (Dave); and six grandchildren.
1968
Charles T. Lindholm, anthropology professor, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., on June 30, 2023. Lindholm earned an M.A. in 1975, M.Phil. in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1979, all in anthropology from GSAS. After anthropological fieldwork in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, he taught anthropology and social theory at Harvard and in the University Professors’ Program and anthropology department at Boston University. After retiring to Florida, he pursued his interests in photography, art and beachcombing. Lindholm, who was the author of seven books and numerous articles, is survived by his wife of 51 years, Cherry; daughter, Michelle; and one granddaughter.
1973
Stephen F. Pellino, attorney, Ridgefield, N.J., on May 13, 2023. Born in Queens, Pellino graduated from Ridgefield Memorial H.S. and played basketball for the Lions, earning varsity letters in 1972 and 1973. He graduated from Fordham Law and was a partner at Basile, Birchwale & Pellino in Ridgefield, serving his community for more than 40 years. Pellino was borough attorney for Ridgefield and represented other municipalities as well, and was an attorney for the Fairview Public School District Board of Education and a member of the Board of Trustees for Bergen Community College. Pellino is survived by his wife, Loretta; son, Frank; daughter, Katrina; and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by another son, Sal.
1980
Matthew P. Kennedy, banker, Harrison, N.Y., on May 18, 2023. Kennedy had a successful career in international banking during which he traveled the world extensively. He enjoyed skiing, reading history books, gardening and lifelong learning. Kennedy maintained the deep friendships he made at Columbia, the skills and appreciation of learning it gave him and the love of the humanities, sports and New York. He is survived by his wife, Nicole; and daughters, Anna and Clara.
1991
Rachel J. Porter, special education teacher, Brooklyn, N.Y., on February 27, 2023. Porter, who majored in religion, was a special education teacher at Edward R. Murrow H.S. in Brooklyn. She was engaged in a variety of public policy, community and cooperative efforts, including the Vera Institute of Justice; the Park Slope Food Coop, where she was working on a book to help spread and scale the model for communities around the world; and NYC Public Schools. Porter enjoyed cooking and hosting large and frequent gatherings, which often included her many friends from Columbia. She is survived by her sons, Ulisse and Sasha Narici-Porter; ex-husband, Manlio Narici; mother, Joan; and brother, Josh.
2001
John K.C. “Kimball” Payne, reporter and investment banker, Virginia Beach, Va., on February 25, 2023. Payne was born in Philadelphia and raised in the Guilford neighborhood of Baltimore. He attended the Calvert School and St. Paul’s School, where he was an outstanding athlete who played football, lacrosse and ice hockey. He majored in political science with a focus on international affairs at Columbia, where he continued to play football. After an internship at The Baltimore Sun, Payne joined The Daily Press in Newport News, Va., as a political reporter. In 2011, he became a financial adviser with BB&T Scott & Stringfellow in Winchester, Va., and 10 years later he joined The Tidewater Group of Davenport & Co. in Virginia Beach, where he was first VP. Payne is survived by his wife of 13 years, Ragan; son, Maddox; daughter, Owyn; parents, Dr. John W. and Jane C.; and brother, David.
— Alex Sachare ’71
