By Kim Roth
The NERS department is saddened to report the passing of three members of our community this year. Our deepest sympathy goes out to their friends and families.
James D. Butt
College of Engineering alumnus (BSE IE ’53), NERS friend
June 3, 2018
Jim Butt was a great friend of the NERS department for many years. He generously funded the James D. Butt Scholarship Fund for undergraduates. He enjoyed meeting with the scholarship recipients and attended basketball games with some of them.
Jim was also a devoted automotive aficionado. He was a volunteer at the Oldsmobile Museum in Lansing, and we attended many enthusiast events together.
— Ron Gilgenbach, Chihiro Kikuchi Collegiate Professor
David B. Cooper
NERS alumnus (MSE 1958 Nuclear Engineering)
June 16, 2018
Dr. Ramon Garcia
NERS alumnus (BSE [Phys.] ’57, MSE NERS ’58, PhD NERS ’66)
December 13, 2017
Ray Garcia was my friend. When I entered the scary gothic halls of Michigan House in West Quad in the fall of 1963, I was greeted by an affable young man, who as resident director, had memorized all the faces of his incoming freshmen, and called me by name. That was doctoral student in Nuclear Engineering, Ramon Garcia.
We all followed different paths. Mine was to education and business, Ray’s was to Aerojet on the West Coast where he worked over thirty years. We kept in touch in the intervening years. Ray had tons of friends at the U of M. As the saying goes, everyone loved Ray. Ray Garcia was my friend.
–Jim Thompson (BA ’67, MA ’69, EdS. ’74, MBA ’79)
