Particle physics pioneer Bernard Gittelman, Cornell professor emeritus, dies at 74
By Lauren Gold


Bernard Gittelman, Cornell professor emeritus of physics, died in Ithaca Nov. 25 at age 74. The cause of death was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS and Lou Gehrig's Disease).

Gittelman was a pioneer in the design and development of storage rings at the Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory. He led in the design and construction of the CLEO detector, the large multi-university collaboration devoted to exploiting the production and decay of new particles containing heavy quarks from the Cornell Electron Storage Ring.

"Bernie was one of the key reasons why Cornell and the CLEO collaboration led the world in heavy quark physics during the 1980s and 1990s," said friend and colleague Karl Berkelman, professor emeritus of physics at Cornell.

Gittelman earned his bachelor's degree and Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then worked as a research associate at Princeton University (1958-66) and Stanford University (1966-69), where he collaborated with Nobel laureate Burton Richter and colleagues to construct the first colliding beam device. He joined Cornell's faculty in 1969. In 1987 he was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society "for contributions to the design of storage rings and detectors as well as for contributions to the understanding of the physics of the production and decay of B mesons."

After his retirement, Gittelman continued his involvement with the CLEO research program in spite of his illness.

He is survived by his wife, Sandra, and three children.
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Ex-Saints CEO Thom Clark dies
The Lowell Sun
Article Last Updated:12/03/2006 09:53:39 PM EST


Thomas Clark, the executive who led Saints Medical Center from the red to the black while maintaining a hearty outlook and holding close the hospital's Catholic mission, died Saturday evening at his home in Westwood.

He was 63 and is survived by his wife, Lloyd, and four grown children, two sons and two daughters.

Clark, Saints' president and CEO for 10 years, died following a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, said his good friend and Saints Chief Financial Officer Thomas Klessens.

Klessens called Clark "bigger than life" and "a Southern gentleman."

Clark left Saints (then known as Saints Memorial Medical Center) in June 2005 on indefinite medical leave. He officially retired two months later. He was replaced a year ago by Michael Guley.

An affable man with a shock of gray hair and an accent that betrayed his Southern roots, Clark was known for his communications skills, ability to lead, optimism and a forcefulness for getting results. And a profound love of golf.
In all, he compiled three decades of experience as a health-care executive.

His decade at the helm of Saints began in March 1995

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Post Script: Despite disease, teacher never lost his spirit of adventure
By STACI DENNIS, Correspondent
© December 5, 2006



NORFOLK - Bill Sams Jr. was a romantic at heart.

He proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower and recited wedding vows in a private ceremony under an apple tree in Vermont.

"He was my adventure buddy," said his wife, Elizabeth McDowell. "He was creative and fun, but most of all, he just loved to travel."

McDowell said they would work and save money for trips. They would plan where they wanted to go and do what it took to get there, she said.

Sams, who died Nov. 20 at age 42 after battling ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, since 2001, didn't let his diagnosis slow him down. Even after he was in a wheelchair, the couple visited The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. It was their last trip together.



Sams and McDowell married five years ago, but their adventures together date to their college years. After the couple graduated, they spent the summer in Maine working to raise money to live in the West Indies for six months.

"When we finally reached the remote beach where we were going to live, his eyes got so wide and a huge grin spread across his face," McDowell said. "Out of everywhere we ever went, that was his favorite place."

In addition to his global travels, Sams also spent time traveling with his friends. One of his favorite destinations was South Carolina - to pick up fireworks.

"He didn't care if he was in a wheelchair or what," said longtime friend John Hickey. "He commanded us into the car and didn't let up until we picked up the fireworks."

Sams' father, Skip, said his son's adventures started early and he never lost his boyhood imagination. "He was a kid at heart," he said.

When Sams was 12, he brought home a few ducklings that had been separated from their mother.

Sams nurtured the fowl, even helping them learn to swim in the bathtub.

"They started following him around like they would have their own mother," Skip Sams said. "The next thing I know, he's telling me he wants a gorilla."

McDowell says Sams never lost that sense of adventure, even days before his death.

"He told me he wanted to refinish the boat his dad gave him and take it out on the ocean," McDowell said about a 1955 vintage speedboat he got from his dad as a teenager. "He was never one to let a dream die."


Reach Staci Dennis at postscripts@pilotonline.com.