Obituaries

Memorial services were held on campus Nov. 29 for Graham Baker Morin, 19, a freshman student in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.

Morin died Nov. 25. According to the Onondaga County medical examiner's office, the cause of his death was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or an enlarged heart. He had lost consciousness during a break in a light wrestling team practice that afternoon in Teagle Hall. He received emergency medical attention at the scene and was taken by Bangs Ambulance to Cayuga Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead.

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings said: "On behalf of the entire university community, I extend condolences to the family and friends of Graham Morin. We are honored to have had him as a member of our community, and our thoughts are with his family at this sad time."

During his athletic career at Sawalicum High School in his hometown of Bellingham, Wash., Morin was a state wrestling champion for three years and was named a national All-American twice.

He is survived by his parents, Daniel and Laurie Morin, and two sisters.

His family has set up a scholarship fund in his name. Contributions may be sent to the Graham Morin Memorial Fund, c/o Washington Mutual, 1336 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, Wash. 98225.

Donald M. Reis, M.D., the George C. Cotzias Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and the founder and director of the Weill Medical College of Cornell's Laboratory of Neurobiology, died Nov. 1 at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 69.

A leading investigator in neuroscience who trained more than 100 scientists now working around the world, Reis was noted for his contributions to the understanding of how the brain is organized to express emotional behaviors and how it controls blood pressure, protects itself against strokes and generates neurotransmitters, especially those affecting mood and behavior. His findings on stroke, dementia, Parkinsonism and schizophrenia have had a broad impact, not only on neurobiology but also on internal medicine, psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. He wrote or contributed to some 650 scientific publications and edited professional journals.

Born in Manhattan, Reis graduated Phi Beta Kappa in zoology from Cornell in 1953 and received his medical degree from Cornell in 1956. He came to Cornell Medical College in 1963 as an assistant professor of neurology.

He is survived by his wife, Cornelia Langer Noland Reis; two stepdaughters, Lyn and Cady Noland; a stepson, William Noland; and a granddaughter.

A. Richard Seebass, professor of aerospace sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a former member of the faculty of Cornell's Graduate School of Aerospace Engineering and the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, died Nov. 14 in Boulder, Colo., after a short illness.

Seebass received B.S.E. and M.S.E. degrees from Princeton University. He continued his graduate studies at Cornell as a Woodrow Wilson fellow. After completing his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, he joined Cornell's faculty in 1962. He spent the year 1966-1967 at the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. From 1972 until 1975, he served as associate dean of the College of Engineering. In 1975 he joined the University of Arizona as a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and of mathematics. In 1981 he became dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Colorado. He continued to serve as dean until 1994. From 1995 till 1999 he chaired Colorado's Department of Aerospace Sciences.

During his years at Cornell, Seebass' research focused on the phenomenon of sonic boom, the shock waves created at ground level by aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. He was a pioneer in analyzing sonic boom and in identifying ways by which it can be minimized. A second area of his research at Cornell was magnetohydrodynamics. Seebass's interest in intense wave propagation motivated him to organize a symposium in 1969 on nonlinear waves, together with his colleague Sidney Leibovich. The symposium led to the first account of nonlinear waves published in book form. The book was edited by the two organizers and appeared in 1974. Republished in Russian during the Cold War by the Soviet scientific publishing house Mir, the book continues to be widely cited.

Seebass's service as associate dean of engineering at Cornell was marked by his characteristic energy and innovative style. He promoted research in the college in numerous ways. One of his notable contributions was negotiating research arrangements with the university administration that have remained in effect since. He also was particularly effective in supporting junior faculty.

A memorial service will be held Dec. 5, 9-11 a.m., at the UMC Glen Miller Ballroom on the campus of the University of Colorado-Boulder. The UC-Boulder news release on Seebass can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/PublicRelations/NewsReleases/2000/942.html.

The family has requested that no flowers be sent. Contributions may be made to the Richard Seebass Honorary Scholarship Fund, in care of Colorado Foundation, Campus Box 422, Boulder, Colo. 80309-0422, or to the Boulder Community Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 9019, Boulder, Colo. 80301-9019.