Obituaries - May 6, 1999
Donald E. Hudson; Earthquake Engineering Expert
Donald E. Hudson, 83, a pioneering expert in mechanical and earthquake engineering. Born in Alma, Mich., Hudson earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering from Caltech, where he taught for four decades. For four years before retiring in 1985, Hudson chaired the USC civil engineering department and served as president of the International Assn. for Earthquake Engineering. During World War II, he worked on rocketry and underwater ordnance design for the Navy’s Office of Research and Inventions. He also conducted research in geophysical engineering for General Petroleum Corp. and in vibration engineering for Douglas Aircraft before settling into his academic career. Hudson developed several instruments to study seismic motions to provide better designs for quake-resistant buildings, bridges and dams. In 1989, the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded Hudson its Nathan M. Newmark Medal for his contributions to structural mechanics and measurement analysis and his interpretation of the response of structures to dynamic forces and motions. On April 24 in Pasadena of heart failure.
Paul Kircher; Computer Pioneer at UCLA Business School
Paul Kircher, 83, an accounting professor who brought the first computer to UCLA’s business school. A Chicago native who grew up in Montreal, Kircher was educated at McGill University there and at the universities of New Mexico and Michigan. He taught briefly at Western Michigan University and the University of Chicago and then taught accounting and business management at the UCLA Graduate School of Management from 1952 until his retirement in 1986. Kircher gained ground-floor knowledge of computers in the 1950s as consultant to the U.S. General Accounting Office. In 1959, he helped write the first report on use of electronic computers in the federal government, and went on to advise the California state controller on installation of computers for state government. Working with IBM, Kircher in the 1950s brought the first computer to UCLA’s business school, and later became the first professor to provide his own personal computer. He bolted it to a desk in the student lounge and invited students to try it as an introduction to their future in business. In his retirement years, Kircher taught a course on lifelong learning. On Saturday in Long Beach of heart failure.
Charles E. McKimson Jr.; Warner Bros. Cartoonist
Charles E. “Chuck” McKimson Jr., 84, an animator and cartoonist whose work ranged from movie cartoons to comic books to animated fine arts. With his brothers, Tom and Robert, McKimson had a notable career with Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes Cartoons. He worked on sketches, models and celluloid images known as cels for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the characters created by brother Robert--the Tasmanian Devil, Speedy Gonzales and Foghorn Leghorn. Born in Colorado, Chuck McKimson, along with both brothers, worked first on printing and layout for small newspapers owned by their father there and in California. Chuck, the youngest, also worked as a Linotype operator, but soon went into animation, briefly for Disney before joining his brothers at Warner Bros. to develop the Tasmanian Devil. In 1954, he joined Tom at Whitman Publishing to produce Dell Comics, and six years later established his own animation studio to produce motion picture titles and special effects. Active until his death, McKimson had worked in McKimson Productions since 1994, designing and signing limited editions of animated sports fine arts. McKimson also made appearances around the country at gallery showings of some of his early cels, which are highly valued by collectors. On April 16 in the North Hills area of Los Angeles.
Gary Salt; Agent for Motion Picture and TV Writers
Gary Salt, 53, who represented writers of motion picture scripts and television screenplays. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Salt earned a doctorate in dramatic literature at Stanford University. He joined the Paul Kohner agency in 1976, and after Kohner’s death in 1988 assumed ownership of the agency along with Pearl Wexler. Among his clients were Victor Nunez, Brian Clemens, Ed McBain, Debra Winger, Ben Stein, Tony Huston and Lee Strasberg. He also had strong relationships with numerous publishing houses. On Monday in Los Angeles of cancer.
Eric Shuman; Journalist, Instructor at USC
Eric Shuman, 64, a journalist and teacher who spent most of his career with Los Angeles-area news organizations. A native of Vienna, he came to the United States with his family to avoid Nazi persecution. After graduating from UCLA, Shuman became a copy editor for The Times. In the mid-1960s he worked as an assignment editor and news writer at KNXT-TV Channel 2--now KCBS--before moving to City News Service, where he was editor in chief in the early 1970s. During that decade, he was also a part-time instructor at the USC School of Journalism. “Eric was an excellent journalism teacher and the consummate freelancer, one of the best in the business,” said Joe Saltzman, professor of journalism and associate dean of the USC Annenberg School of Communication. Shuman left the school in 1981 to edit the Irvine World News, a community paper. On April 28 in Pleasanton, Calif., after a long illness.
James H. Whittam; Chemist Headed Shaklee Cos.
James H. Whittam, 49, scientist, businessman and head of Shaklee Cos., marketers of nutritional products for Shaklee Corp. Born in Queens, N.Y. Whittam earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from City College of New York, a master’s degree from Boston College and a doctorate in chemistry and biochemistry from City University of New York. He taught chemistry and then began his business career in management positions at Procter & Gamble, Vidal Sassoon and the Gillette Co. As president and chief executive officer of Shaklee, he handled marketing worldwide and supervised the company’s science and technology functions. In 1997, he led the establishment of Yamanouchi Shaklee Pharm, which develops drug delivery technologies, at Stanford Research Park. A sports enthusiast, Whittam competed in the Boston and New York marathons, served on the U.S. Ski Team Sports Medicine Council and was nutritional consultant to the U.S. Ski Team. On April 15 in Palo Alto of cancer.
