In Memoriam: Professor Gian Berto Vanni

Gian Berto Vanni was born in Rome in 1927.   He received his art education at the University of Rome’s School of Art and Architecture in the 1940s. Gian Vanni continued his studies in 1949 in Amsterdam at the atelier of the De Stijl member Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart.  In 1952, he was chosen by Josef Albers to study at Yale, under the Fullbright program.

In 1979 he moved to New York where he held an open studio twice a year for his collectors. From 1984 to 2014, he taught Color Interaction and Painting Techniques at The Cooper Union School for the Advancement of Science and Art.  He traveled extensively  through Europe,  Central America, Asia and Africa.  His works have been shown in galleries in the United States, Europe and Japan.

He passed away during September 2017.

Links to works:

Vanni Archive

Xanadu Gallery

Reviews:

The Inner Life of Dreamscapes 45 Greene Street Offers Rare Chance to View Six Decades of Gian Berto Vanni, Gay City News   link

Books:

The Threads of the Canvas, Autobiography of a Painter     Link

Amor, (in Spanish)  Link

Love, (in English)  Link

The Magic Chalk,  by Zinken Hopp (Author), Gian Berto Vanni (Illustrator) Link

Thelma Lubell A’44

Submitted by: Alice Pantaleoni

Thelma Lubell, 95, of Lauderhill, Florida, passed away on October 27, 2017.

Funeral services were held Friday November 3rd at Garden Plaza of Inverrary 4251 Rock Island Rd, Lauderhill, FL 33319, Rabbi Menachem Smith officiating. Arrangements by Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home.

Thelma Lubell, born in New York City to Meyer and Hattie (Hirsch) Manne on January 29, 1922, went to school in Cedarhurst, NY and attended Cooper Union in Manhattan, NY graduating in 1944 with a certificate in Fine Arts, later receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976. She briefly worked in advertising before marrying Paul Philip Lubell (December 1943 in Manhattan, NY). Paul served in the Army, stationed in Mississippi where they lived for the duration of the war. Afterward, they moved to Long Island, and Thelma worked at home raising their two sons Mark and David. She also taught drawing and painting classes. Her artwork was primarily in oils but also in watercolor, charcoal, pencil, sand-casting and other mediums. An award-winning artist and art guild member, her artwork was shown in several galleries and she sold many pieces. When Paul retired from  advertising in New Yok City they moved to River Edge, NJ, living there for a year,  then to West Shokan, NY for several years. There she also worked in stain glass, creating window pieces, lamp shades, and small boxes. The couple spent winters in Sunrise, Florida and in the early 1990’s settled there permanently. In addition to her artwork, Thelma enjoyed tennis, mah-jongg, canasta and traveling with her many friends.

Thelma was preceded in death by Paul Lubell (1994). She is survived by her sons and several nieces and nephews. The family wishes to extend their sincere thanks to Clitie (Cece) Williamson and Dorette Bell for their exceptional care and assistance to Thelma for the last two years of her life.

Other Years 20172016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009

 2018 In Memoriam

Charles Cassella, EE 68

Charlie Cassella (71) died peacefully on Dec 6, 2017, survived by his wife, Judy (DeVincent) EE 71, and his sons, Paul and Raymond, in Baldwin, NY.

While at Cooper, Charlie was active in the Hiking Club and the Rifle Team. He spent so much time at Green Camp that he flunked thermodynamics and had to make it up at City College. During the long gap between his last class and graduation, he and 4 other graduates dropped off some last minute lab reports at Cooper and headed West on a cross-country road trip, getting back just in time for graduation rehearsal.

Charlie retired from the FAA after 43 years. He enjoyed his early years as a runway rat, installing and troubleshooting instrument landing systems throughout the Eastern region, but his later management years not so much. There was also the occasional RF foray into neighborhoods tracking down phantom controllers and interference hotspots.

Charlie had a strong commitment to Cooper over the years, serving several terms on the Alumni Council. He enjoyed many an Alumni Day, Founder’s Day Dinners, and the still ongoing annual Turkey Roast at Ringwood Manor State Park, etc, but his favorite was the Phonathon. He was named Alumnus of the Year in 2010.

Charlie was also deeply involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts throughout the years where he loved to cook for the troop, district and council. He headed up leadership training and was active in the Sagamore Service Troop until the end. He earned the Distinguished Commissioner and the Silver Beaver awards, among others.

Whether at work or play, Charlie is remembered for his dedication, his sense of humor, and his willingness to help out wherever and whenever needed.

2019 In Memoriam

 Doris (Anger) Korosy A’49, 92 years, of Cresskill, NJ, passed away on 12/20/18. She received her degree from Cooper Union Night Art in 1949. Doris was a floral arranger and gift shop owner. She was predeceased by Louis B. Korosy (Cooper Union Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, Night, 1950), her husband of 61 years, and is survived by 3 children, 6 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild.

Born in New York City in 1915, Irwin Harrison Woolf passed away peacefully on March 19, 2019 shortly after his 104^th birthday. Perhaps the oldest living alumnus, Woolf received an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Cooper Union in 1948 and pursued a highly successful career for over four decades.

While working for RCA and other companies, he rose to senior engineer, section head, and project director status, designing a variety of machines in numerous areas. He was granted several patents and helped design a radio small enough for use in a spacecraft and a clock with advertising space installed in the Time Square subway station and throughout the transit authority.

In 2013 the family donated a number of his materials to Cooper Union school library/archives.  Woolf also received a Masters degree as a teacher of industrial arts from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University).

Paula Cohen Woolf, his wife of almost 70 years, passed away 15 months ago at age101.  The residents at John Knox Village, the retirement community where they resided for the last thirty years, knew him as “mister-fixer-upper” and the staff knew him as Irv.

His dexterity and engineering mindset served him well in repairing jewelry and numerous other items and designing and constructing implements from tongue depressors for taking toast out of toasters.

Written by Sandra Woolf Bauman

Jack William Schwalbe, 89, formerly of Melbourne, FL passed away in his sleep on Thursday, June 6, 2019 at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH after a period of declining health.  Jack was born in Staten Island Hospital, New York on August 8, 1929.  He was the son of the late Charles and Ella Schwalbe of Staten Island, NY.  After the death of his wife, Lyndell Leighton Schwalbe (nee Davis), he recently moved from Florida to Merrimack, NH to be near two of his sons; James and Jeffrey.  He was an avid sports enthusiast playing basketball, baseball, football in his youth and later became an avid golfer.  One of his favorite things was to watch sports on TV.

Jack was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Illsheim, Germany for 2 years in 1951.  After returning, he attended Wagner College and then Cooper Union on the G.I. Bill where he received his B.S. degree in Structural Engineering in 1962.  After starting a family and moving to Ledyard, CT, he worked at Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamics where he designed submarine hull structures.  Going to school at night, he received his master’s degree at the University of Connecticut in 1967.  A few years later the family moved to Satellite Beach and later Melbourne Beach, FL where he worked at Florida Institute of Technology (F.I.T., now Florida Tech) until he retired as Professor Emeritus in 2000.  At F.I.T. he started as Assistant Professor of Ocean Engineering and became Chairman of the program in 1977.  In 1980 he transferred to the newly created Civil Engineering program and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1984.  He became Chairman and later President of the Faculty Senate in 1993.  In 1997 he was the founder and advisor of the Rotary Club at F.I.T.  He also published a textbook in his field and was the tennis coach in the late 1970s. He later started his own consulting business on the side which he continued after he retired from F.I.T. 

Jack is survived by his son James and wife Colleen of Londonderry, NH and their three children; Kaleigh, Courtney, and Jared,  his son Jeffrey and his wife Barbara of Merrimack, NH and their two children; Jade and Joslyn, and his son John of Grant, FL and his four children; Joey, Jason, Klaudia, and Jenny and one great-grandson, Jaxon.

It was his wish not to have a wake or funeral, and to be cremated at Michaud Funeral Home and Crematorium of Wilton, NH.  His remains will be placed next to his wife Lynn’s in the Memory Garden at St. Sebastian by the Sea Episcopal church in Melbourne Beach where they were active members for many years.

Sabina and Oliver Jovanovic are deeply saddened by the loss of their beloved son and brother, Adrian Burton Jovanovic. Adrian died in a tragic accident on June 17, 2017 while hiking in Washington State. Adrian lived his life fully committed to all that he believed in and loved—from friends and travel, to music and software design, to learning and education. His generosity, passion, and intelligence will be profoundly missed.

Adrian was the product of two extraordinary institutions of free education, Hunter College High School and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Their gift of learning strongly influenced his outlook on life, igniting an enduring curiosity about the world and a deep sense of civic responsibility.

Adrian was deeply troubled by the decision made to charge tuition at Cooper Union in 2013. He saw it as a fundamental betrayal of Peter Cooper’s vision and resolved to fight for the principle of free education. Adrian was a founder of the Committee to Save Cooper Union, an organization of students, faculty and graduates that mounted a successful legal challenge to this decision. Later, as an elected member of the Board of Trustees, Adrian worked tirelessly with his fellow trustees to help Cooper Union fulfill its promise to restore free education.

Adrian was determined that Cooper Union once again be free to all, and he was hopeful that the positive changes he witnessed this past year would continue. His family and friends know that completing that work would be the greatest possible tribute. We ask all those that loved and respected him to work together to finish what he started for the benefit of future generations.

Link to announcement on Cooper.edu

Link to Alumni Profile for Adrian Jovanovic

Submitted by Daniel Roth 

Judith Hand A’66

Judith Lee Hand of Albany, New York was surrounded by family and friends the morning of Friday, June 30, 2017 when she passed away at Albany Medical Center. Judith died from pneumonia after living with cancer for many years.

Judith was born November 30, 1940 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Corrine True Taylor Hand and Thomas Lee Hand. Judith was an immensely loving and creative mother, sister, and friend. She is survived by her son, Daniel Roth and daughter-in-law, Farah Hussain of Albany, New York; brother, Thomas Hand of Boulder, Colorado; sister, Sara Hand of Randolph, Vermont; close friends, Keitha Sapsin-Fine of Aquinnah, Massachusetts; Walter Mahoney of Amherst, Massachusetts; and her first husband, Juan Gomez Quiroz of New York, New York. Judith was predeceased by her second husband, William Roth of Albany, New York.

Professionally, Judith inspired and nurtured many as a visual artist, a yoga teacher, a practitioner of dance and massage therapies, and a mentor and teacher of natural health. Judith possessed an eclectic passion for diverse cultural and religious philosophies as well as spiritual beliefs from around the world—which she infused into her art and healing practice. These interests carried her from the Mayan Temples of the Yucatan to the Hindu Temples of Tamil Nadu. Her life was full of creative movement.

After graduating from Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati in 1958, Judith moved east and completed her first advanced degree in 1962 at Barnard College with studies in Comparative Religion, Anthropology, and Art History. Her commitment to artistic expression next blossomed at Cooper Union where she received a Masters in Fine Art in 1966.  During that period, Judith also taught art in high schools and after-school programs and served as Assistant Curator at the Hispanic Society of America Museum in New York City.

By the 1980’s Judith’s art was well-known in New York City, Albany, and the greater Northeast. Her paintings, drawings and unique large curvilinear painted and draped cloth shapes inspired by ancient techniques of basketry, weaving, and calligraphy were displayed in over 40 galleries and exhibitions during her life.     Photos of some of Judith’s Work:  Link

During decades of artistic work, Judith also studied Tai Chi and Yoga – disciplines which laid a new foundation for the rest of her life. In the 1980s while raising her son, she began to study body-based healing techniques. This led to completing Massage Therapy training at the Stillpoint Center in 1992. Then in 1996 she received a Masters in Dance Movement and Counseling Psychology at Antioch University New England Graduate School.

While continuing to paint and draw, Judith committed her life to helping others heal. Her home-based practice integrated numerous healing modalities including shiatsu, herbal medicine, nutrition, body psychotherapy, yoga therapy, sound healing, evolutionary astrology, Process Work, Body Mind Centering, Authentic Movement, and Continuum. In the last decade of her life, she also studied Sanskrit chanting and mantra, and integrated them into a weekly yoga class at her home. Judith offered holistic, body-centered care for clients, family, and friends for over 20 years.

Throughout her life, Judith loved preparing healthy foods with family and friends. She was always happy when swimming or collecting water-polished stones in the ocean and lakes of New England, and tending to her backyard garden oasis. Judith lived each phase of her life fully. Her commitment to a unique vision found full expression in her art as well as in her devotion to the health of humans and the earth itself.  In these ways, her spirit lives on in all those she touched.

An interfaith memorial will be held at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on Sunday October 1st at 3pm. RSVP is required. Email judithhandmemorial@gmail.com or visit www.judithheals.wordpress.comto RSVP and find event details. In recognition of Judith’s deep commitment to art, body and health, a memorial fund has been established at Kripalu in her name. Please join the family in support of Judith’s legacy by contributing to the Judith Hand Memorial Scholarship Fund.  Donations can be made online at https://give.kripalu.org/ noting “Gift in Memory of Judith Hand”. Alternately, checks payable to “Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health” with “Judith Hand Memorial” in the note section can be sent to Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, PO Box 309, Stockbridge, MA 01262.

In Memoriam: Professor Gian Berto Vanni

Gian Berto Vanni was born in Rome in 1927.   He received his art education at the University of Rome’s School of Art and Architecture in the 1940s. Gian Vanni continued his studies in 1949 in Amsterdam at the atelier of the De Stijl member Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart.  In 1952, he was chosen by Josef Albers to study at Yale, under the Fullbright program.

In 1979 he moved to New York where he held an open studio twice a year for his collectors. From 1984 to 2014, he taught Color Interaction and Painting Techniques at The Cooper Union School for the Advancement of Science and Art.  He traveled extensively  through Europe,  Central America, Asia and Africa.  His works have been shown in galleries in the United States, Europe and Japan.

He passed away during September 2017.

Alumni memories:

Joseph Weinzette A’89 — Kind and generous man. Shared his remarkable depth of knowledge with his students in ‘Traditional methods and materials of painting’ class.

David Sena A’97 — Great man , full of wisdom and life , amazing artist, so happy to have been one of his students

Amber Marsh A’05 — Learned so much from this man.

Anna Muslimova A’99 — I learned so much from this precious professor! about color and technique but even more about enjoying life, making the most of each moment, filling your heart with joy and humor, doing what you like. That and also how to pick up an egg yolk with my fingers “as if it was a kitten “

Links to works:

Vanni Archive

Xanadu Gallery

Reviews:

The Inner Life of Dreamscapes 45 Greene Street Offers Rare Chance to View Six Decades of Gian Berto Vanni, Gay City News   link

Books:

The Threads of the Canvas, Autobiography of a Painter     Link

Amor, (in Spanish)  Link

Love, (in English)  Link

The Magic Chalk,  by Zinken Hopp (Author), Gian Berto Vanni (Illustrator) Link

Thelma Lubell A’44

Submitted by: Alice Pantaleoni

Thelma Lubell, 95, of Lauderhill, Florida, passed away on October 27, 2017.

Funeral services were held Friday November 3rd at Garden Plaza of Inverrary 4251 Rock Island Rd, Lauderhill, FL 33319, Rabbi Menachem Smith officiating. Arrangements by Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home.

Thelma Lubell, born in New York City to Meyer and Hattie (Hirsch) Manne on January 29, 1922, went to school in Cedarhurst, NY and attended Cooper Union in Manhattan, NY graduating in 1944 with a certificate in Fine Arts, later receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976. She briefly worked in advertising before marrying Paul Philip Lubell (December 1943 in Manhattan, NY). Paul served in the Army, stationed in Mississippi where they lived for the duration of the war. Afterward, they moved to Long Island, and Thelma worked at home raising their two sons Mark and David. She also taught drawing and painting classes. Her artwork was primarily in oils but also in watercolor, charcoal, pencil, sand-casting and other mediums. An award-winning artist and art guild member, her artwork was shown in several galleries and she sold many pieces. When Paul retired from  advertising in New Yok City they moved to River Edge, NJ, living there for a year,  then to West Shokan, NY for several years. There she also worked in stain glass, creating window pieces, lamp shades, and small boxes. The couple spent winters in Sunrise, Florida and in the early 1990’s settled there permanently. In addition to her artwork, Thelma enjoyed tennis, mah-jongg, canasta and traveling with her many friends.

Thelma was preceded in death by Paul Lubell (1994). She is survived by her sons and several nieces and nephews. The family wishes to extend their sincere thanks to Clitie (Cece) Williamson and Dorette Bell for their exceptional care and assistance to Thelma for the last two years of her life.

 2018 In Memoriam

Charles Cassella, EE 68

Charlie Cassella (71) died peacefully on Dec 6, 2017, survived by his wife, Judy (DeVincent) EE 71, and his sons, Paul and Raymond, in Baldwin, NY.

While at Cooper, Charlie was active in the Hiking Club and the Rifle Team. He spent so much time at Green Camp that he flunked thermodynamics and had to make it up at City College. During the long gap between his last class and graduation, he and 4 other graduates dropped off some last minute lab reports at Cooper and headed West on a cross-country road trip, getting back just in time for graduation rehearsal.

Charlie retired from the FAA after 43 years. He enjoyed his early years as a runway rat, installing and troubleshooting instrument landing systems throughout the Eastern region, but his later management years not so much. There was also the occasional RF foray into neighborhoods tracking down phantom controllers and interference hotspots.

Charlie had a strong commitment to Cooper over the years, serving several terms on the Alumni Council. He enjoyed many an Alumni Day, Founder’s Day Dinners, and the still ongoing annual Turkey Roast at Ringwood Manor State Park, etc, but his favorite was the Phonathon. He was named Alumnus of the Year in 2010.

Charlie was also deeply involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts throughout the years where he loved to cook for the troop, district and council. He headed up leadership training and was active in the Sagamore Service Troop until the end. He earned the Distinguished Commissioner and the Silver Beaver awards, among others.

Whether at work or play, Charlie is remembered for his dedication, his sense of humor, and his willingness to help out wherever and whenever needed.

2019 In Memoriam

 Doris (Anger) Korosy A’49, 92 years, of Cresskill, NJ, passed away on 12/20/18. She received her degree from Cooper Union Night Art in 1949. Doris was a floral arranger and gift shop owner. She was predeceased by Louis B. Korosy (Cooper Union Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, Night, 1950), her husband of 61 years, and is survived by 3 children, 6 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild.

Born in New York City in 1915, Irwin Harrison Woolf passed away peacefully on March 19, 2019 shortly after his 104^th birthday. Perhaps the oldest living alumnus, Woolf received an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Cooper Union in 1948 and pursued a highly successful career for over four decades.

While working for RCA and other companies, he rose to senior engineer, section head, and project director status, designing a variety of machines in numerous areas. He was granted several patents and helped design a radio small enough for use in a spacecraft and a clock with advertising space installed in the Time Square subway station and throughout the transit authority.

In 2013 the family donated a number of his materials to Cooper Union school library/archives.  Woolf also received a Masters degree as a teacher of industrial arts from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University).

Paula Cohen Woolf, his wife of almost 70 years, passed away 15 months ago at age101.  The residents at John Knox Village, the retirement community where they resided for the last thirty years, knew him as “mister-fixer-upper” and the staff knew him as Irv.

His dexterity and engineering mindset served him well in repairing jewelry and numerous other items and designing and constructing implements from tongue depressors for taking toast out of toasters.

Written by Sandra Woolf Bauman

Jack William Schwalbe, 89, formerly of Melbourne, FL passed away in his sleep on Thursday, June 6, 2019 at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH after a period of declining health.  Jack was born in Staten Island Hospital, New York on August 8, 1929.  He was the son of the late Charles and Ella Schwalbe of Staten Island, NY.  After the death of his wife, Lyndell Leighton Schwalbe (nee Davis), he recently moved from Florida to Merrimack, NH to be near two of his sons; James and Jeffrey.  He was an avid sports enthusiast playing basketball, baseball, football in his youth and later became an avid golfer.  One of his favorite things was to watch sports on TV.

Jack was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Illsheim, Germany for 2 years in 1951.  After returning, he attended Wagner College and then Cooper Union on the G.I. Bill where he received his B.S. degree in Structural Engineering in 1962.  After starting a family and moving to Ledyard, CT, he worked at Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamics where he designed submarine hull structures.  Going to school at night, he received his master’s degree at the University of Connecticut in 1967.  A few years later the family moved to Satellite Beach and later Melbourne Beach, FL where he worked at Florida Institute of Technology (F.I.T., now Florida Tech) until he retired as Professor Emeritus in 2000.  At F.I.T. he started as Assistant Professor of Ocean Engineering and became Chairman of the program in 1977.  In 1980 he transferred to the newly created Civil Engineering program and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1984.  He became Chairman and later President of the Faculty Senate in 1993.  In 1997 he was the founder and advisor of the Rotary Club at F.I.T.  He also published a textbook in his field and was the tennis coach in the late 1970s. He later started his own consulting business on the side which he continued after he retired from F.I.T. 

Jack is survived by his son James and wife Colleen of Londonderry, NH and their three children; Kaleigh, Courtney, and Jared,  his son Jeffrey and his wife Barbara of Merrimack, NH and their two children; Jade and Joslyn, and his son John of Grant, FL and his four children; Joey, Jason, Klaudia, and Jenny and one great-grandson, Jaxon.

It was his wish not to have a wake or funeral, and to be cremated at Michaud Funeral Home and Crematorium of Wilton, NH.  His remains will be placed next to his wife Lynn’s in the Memory Garden at St. Sebastian by the Sea Episcopal church in Melbourne Beach where they were active members for many years.

2020 In Memoriam

Walter Kurt Kahn, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, died of heart failure on January 31, 2020 at the age of 90. Born in Mannheim, Germany, he fled the Nazis with his brother and their parents, Simon Kahn and Hilde Ullmann Kahn, arriving in New York in July 1938. Walter, who followed his brother through Stuyvesant High School, received his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Cooper Union and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now NYU Tandon School of Engineering).

Dr. Kahn worked at Wheeler Labs, taught at Brooklyn Polytechnic, and spent a year at the Office of Naval Research in London before joining the faculty of The George Washington University, where he taught for 45 years, served as Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, and held a seat on the Faculty Senate, among other leadership roles. The author of over 100 papers in the fields of electromagnetics, microwave components, antennas, and optics, Professor Kahn was a Fellow of the IEEE, where he served in editorial and other roles, and was a long-time consultant for the US Naval Research Laboratory. He was also a member of the Cosmos Club.

Professor Kahn, a true Renaissance man with a particular fondness for Asian calligraphy, art, and ceramics, was beloved by students, respected by peers, and admired and adored by family and friends. Together with his wife he enjoyed life in Bethesda, MD, spending 49 years in Carderock Springs and the last two years at Maplewood Park Place, where they made many new friends.

Walter Kahn is survived by his wife, Barbara Fairberg Kahn, of Bethesda, MD; his daughter Hilde Kahn (Steve Bradbury), of Tysons, VA; his son, Jonathan Kahn (Natalia Guzman Kahn), of Hamburg, Germany; and his grandchildren, James Bradbury, William Bradbury, Susanna Bradbury, and Alexander Kahn. He is also survived by his brother, Ernest Kahn (Marilyn), of Natick, MA; nephew, David Kahn (Gail); also of Natick, and nephew, Richard Kahn (Sherry), of Nashua, NH. A service will be held on Sunday, February 9, at Maplewood. Donations in Walter’s memory can be made to Selfhelp Community Services, the oldest and largest program serving Holocaust survivors in North America.