In Memoriam: Spring 2010

Shearer Davis Bowman, professor emeritus of history, died Dec. 4 at age 60. In 1986 Bowman began his career at The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught American history for 15 years. He wrote “Masters and Lords” and “At the Precipice,” which will be published this spring, as well as numerous articles and reviews.

Leonard Broom, retired professor of sociology, died Nov. 19 at age 98. His early research on the effects of U.S. internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II shaped his lifelong interest in social inequality and discrimination against minorities. He was the Ashbel Smith Professor of Sociology from 1959 to 1971 and department chair from 1959 to 1966. In addition to his prolific career at the university, he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, for more than 19 years.

Michael Joseph Acuña, a longtime staff member in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Office of the Provost, died Feb. 12 at age 46. Joseph Acuña provided administrative support in the Office of Human Resources and the Undergraduate Advising Center. He later joined the academic advising team in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. He also provided support for undergraduates in the Texas Academic Skills Program, the Texas Success Initiative and the Provost’s office. Well known for his love of the arts, he translated an entire opera, which was later performed in Spanish by the university’s Opera Theater in 2004. He was working toward his doctorate from the university at the time of his death.

Nathan Snyder, a longtime bibliographer at the Perry-Castaneda Library, died Oct. 25 at age 65. He served for 27 years as the Hebraica and Judaica librarian and was the namesake of the Nathan I. Snyder Library, which was dedicated in 2009. After he became ill in 2007, he donated his 3,000-volume personal library to the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies. In its own right a rich and wideranging treasure, this collection has become the seed of a growing library and meeting place for Jewish Studies faculty and students.

Philip Lloyd White, professor emeritus of American history, died Oct. 15 at age 86. A pioneer in political activism, White was a driving force behind the formation of studentled voting awareness groups and Democratic political organizations at the university. He served as a faculty sponsor of the university’s Student Council for Voter Registration and the Student Action Committee for more than 20 years. Known by many as an “unsung hero,” White is credited with helping to form the first political coalition in Austin that joined white liberals, minorities and students.

William W. Newcomb Jr., professor emeritus of anthropology, died Feb. 8 at age 88. He served as curator of anthropology for the Texas Memorial Museum, the exhibit hall of the university’s Texas Natural Science Center, for 21 years. During his directorship the museum’s study collections were substantially expanded and each item was professionally catalogued. Newcomb’s scholarly interests focused on American Indian culture, including the Delaware Indians and the rock art of Texas.