{"id":266,"date":"2020-06-04T21:04:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T21:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpdev.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/?page_id=266"},"modified":"2025-12-09T12:21:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T20:21:39","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Harvey Mudd College celebrates and remembers the lives and achievements of community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase\"><div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-content-wrapper\" data-card-count=\"4\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/michael-blasgen-63\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-blasgen.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Michael Blasgen &#8217;63<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Harvey Mudd College and the broader academic and technology communities mourn the passing of Michael W. Blasgen \u201963, a distinguished engineer, researcher, investor, philanthropist and devoted trustee. His exceptional career in computing technology and his profound commitment to education and the arts have left an indelible mark on the institutions and people he touched.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/iris-cummings-critchell\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-critchell.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Iris Cummings Critchell<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Iris Cummings Critchell, instructor of aeronautics emerita at Harvey Mudd College, pioneering female pilot in the Women\u2019s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), Olympic athlete and beloved mentor to students, passed away Jan. 24, 2025, in Claremont, California.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/olivia-guerrero-25\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-guerrero.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Olivia Guerrero \u201925<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd community mourns the profound loss of Olivia Guerrero \u201925, a bright, compassionate and fiercely dedicated student who formed meaningful connections with those around her. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/arjun-vattipalli-27\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-arjun-vattipalli.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Arjun Vattipalli \u201927<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd community grieves the loss of Arjun Vattipalli \u201827. An exceptional student and a kind, supportive friend who touched the lives of many across the 5C campuses, Arjun passed away on Oct. 22. <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase\"><div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-content-wrapper\" data-card-count=\"19\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/courtney-coleman\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featued-coleman.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Courtney Coleman<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd College community mourns the loss of Courtney Coleman, beloved emeritus professor of mathematics, who died on Dec. 2, 2023 at the age of 93.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/gary-evans\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-evans.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Gary Evans<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Gary Evans, emeritus professor of economics at Harvey Mudd College, died Sept. 20 after a long period of illness. Evans long championed entrepreneurship at Harvey Mudd College, where, from 1981 to 2020, he served as professor of economics in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/deren-finks\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-finks.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Deren Finks<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Dean of Admission Emeritus Deren Finks, who admitted hundreds of students during his 17-year tenure at Harvey Mudd College, passed away April 18, 2023. Finks joined the College\u2019s new admission office in 1988 under then admission director Duncan Murdoch.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/hank-krieger\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-krieger.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Hank Krieger<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Hank Krieger, beloved colleague and mentor, died June 29. During his 37 years at Harvey Mudd College, he had many leadership roles on campus, including chair of the Department of Mathematics and chair of the faculty.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/robert-j-cave\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-cave.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Robert J. Cave<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd College community mourns the loss of respected chemist, distinguished teacher and widely recognized scholar Robert J. Cave who died Dec. 18, 2020. Known for his hearty laugh and his welcoming and congenial manner, Cave served on the Harvey Mudd faculty for 32 years. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/james-edward-monson\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/Monson-Youngblood1.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">James Edward Monson<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Professor Emeritus of Engineering Jim Monson died Jan. 1, 2021 at his home in Point Reyes, surrounded by his three children and Julie, his wife of 65 years. He led a full life of teaching, research, caring for his family and volunteering in the communities he lived in. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/bob-keller\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-keller.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Bob Keller<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd College community mourns the loss of Robert (Bob) Keller, who died Sept. 13. Bob was an internationally recognized computer scientist with corporate and academic experience as a technical leader, researcher, educator and administrator. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/richard-g-olson\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-olson.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Richard (Dick) G. Olson<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd College community mourns the loss of physicist, historian and Harvey Mudd alumnus Richard G. Olson, who died June 27. Former chair of the faculty and chair of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts, Olson was a prolific writer with more than 60 published works in the history of science.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/willie-zuniga\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-zuniga.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Willie Zuniga &#8217;17<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd community mourns the loss of Willie Zuniga \u201917, a talented physics major, mentor, leader and friend to many. Zuniga passed away on Feb. 2. Willie was passionate about understanding the universe and was pursuing a career in astrophysics. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/tristan-witte\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-witte.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Tristan Witte &#8217;18<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">The Harvey Mudd community mourns the loss of Harvey Mudd College engineering student Tristan Witte \u201918, 20, a talented athlete, musician and scholar, who passed away in a car accident July 15 along with his friend JJ Adkisson, 20, a graphic design student at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/clive-dym\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-dym.jpeg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Clive Dym<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Harvey Mudd College engineering Professor Emeritus Clive L. Dym passed away during the early morning hours of May 3, 2016. Dym joined Harvey Mudd in 1991 as the inaugural holder of the Fletcher Jones Design Chair, where he developed innovative strategies and paradigms that transformed design education in the United States and around the world.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/harry-williams\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-williams.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Harry Williams<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Harvey Mudd College engineering Professor Emeritus Harry E. Williams Jr. passed away suddenly at Pomona Valley Hospital on Sept. 23 from complications following a stroke. Williams joined Harvey Mudd in 1960 as a professor of physics, pending an opening in the Department of Engineering.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/hank-riggs\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-riggs.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Hank Riggs<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Henry E. (\u201cHank\u201d) Riggs, past president of Harvey Mudd College, former vice president for development at Stanford University, founder and first president of Keck Graduate Institute, died at his home in Palo Alto on June 10, after a brief illness.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/sedat-serdengecti\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-sedat-serdengecti.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Sedat Serdengecti<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Harvey Mudd College engineering Professor Emeritus Sedat Serdengecti died Nov. 30, 2014, following a heart attack. He was 87. Professor Serdengecti joined Harvey Mudd in 1961 as an assistant professor of physics then moved to the Department of Engineering in 1963 as one of its first faculty members. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/bob-borelli\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/bob-borrelli-6.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Bob Borrelli<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Robert \u201cBob\u201d L. Borrelli, a longtime faculty member, campus leader and friend of Harvey Mudd College died Sept. 11, 2013 at the age of 81, following a short period of declining health. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/jean-platt\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-jean-platt.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Jean Ferguson Platt<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Jean Ferguson Platt, founding first lady of Harvey Mudd College, passed away on Feb. 18 in Claremont, Calif. She was 91. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/malcolm-lewis\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-lewis.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Malcolm Lewis &#8217;67<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Malcolm Lewis \u201967, internationally recognized expert in the design of energy-efficient buildings and past chair of the board of trustees of Harvey Mudd College, died Saturday October 13, 2012 at the age of 66.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/ben-huppe\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-huppe.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Ben Huppe &#8217;14<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">Ben will be remembered as a campus leader. He shared the presidency of the Class of 2014 with Jack Ma \u201914 for both their freshman and sophomore years. In the coming year, he was to have been both a mentor and a dorm president for Sontag. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card\"><h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/joe-platt\/\" class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-img\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/02\/featured-joe-platt.jpg);\"><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-heading-text\">Joe Platt<\/span><\/a><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-mudd-showcase-card-copy\">With sadness, Harvey Mudd College mourns the loss of founding president Joseph B. Platt who passed away peacefully at his home in Claremont on July 10, 2012.  He is remembered with deep affection and appreciation by all of us. <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harvey Mudd College celebrates and remembers the lives and achievements of community members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-default-all-blocks.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-266","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/in-memoriam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}