Obituaries

Alison (Provoost) Casarett, professor emeritus and former dean of the Graduate School, died June 1 after a long and determined battle with cancer. She was 72.

Born in 1930 in Richmond Hill, N.Y., Casarett grew up in Sea Cliff, N.Y., and then went on to earn a B.S. degree, in 1951, from St. Lawrence University and an M.S. degree, in 1953, and Ph.D., in 1957, in radiation biology from the University of Rochester, where she was an instructor for five years.

In 1963 Casarett joined the Cornell faculty as an assistant professor of radiation biology, became associate professor in 1969 and professor in 1979. Her research involved investigating the effects of radiation on embryonic development in mice. She authored the textbook Radiation Biology in 1968 and taught courses on the biological effects of radiation, radiological physics, applied radiation biology for veterinary students and the environmental considerations of nuclear energy. She also designed experiments for students using radioisotopes.

In 1973 Casarett became the first woman elected to the main governing body of the Radiation Research Society, as well as associate dean of the Graduate School at Cornell, a post she held until 1979, when she was named dean. In 1978, Casarett also was named a part-time vice provost to serve as the equal opportunity officer for the university.

As Graduate School dean, Casarett was responsible for the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid and played a strong role in establishing the Graduate School's international connections and supervising student exchanges worldwide -- with special efforts in China and Africa. She saw the Graduate School foreign-student enrollment rise to about a third of the total of 4,400 in 1993. When she stepped down as dean in 1995, becoming dean emeritus and professor emeritus, Casarett worked as a special assistant to then President Frank H.T. Rhodes and launched a graduate student exchange network of a dozen universities to help reduce barriers to international study for doctoral students.

Said Rhodes: "Alison Casarett was a woman of extraordinary ability, extraordinary commitment and extraordinary courage. She was an outstanding radiation biologist, a devoted and effective leader of Cornell's graduate and international programs and an exemplary individual. She brought a zest and a devotion to everything she undertook, and her courage and determination during her long final illness inspired countless others. She represented all that is best in Cornell."

Casarett is survived by her two daughters and son-in-laws, Jeni and Ed Polido and Elissa and Tim Rice, and four granddaughters. A celebration of Casarett's life will be held today, June 6, at 10 a.m. at Sage Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Casarett's name to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline, Mass. 02334 or Hospicare of Tompkins County, 172 E. King Road, Ithaca.

Solomon (Sol) Goldberg, a Cornell photographer for 33 years and director of the university's Visual Services department until his retirement in 1988, died May 30 in Kendal at Ithaca. He was 79.

Born in Ithaca, Goldberg was a champion sprinter on the Ithaca High School track team. His love of sports of all kinds was apparent in his photos for the Ithaca Journal, where he worked for nine years and won 85 regional and national awards, as well as at Cornell, where he was inducted in the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.

Goldberg attended Cornell for one year before his father died and he dropped out to care for his mother and sister. Returning to work as a janitor at the former Photographic Science Laboratory, Goldberg was handed a camera one day in 1946, when a staff shortage left a rush assignment unfilled, and he didn't stop shooting for more than five decades, sharing his love of photography, as a teacher, up to the end. His popular work for the Ithaca Journal was collected in two volumes, Sol Goldberg's Ithaca and Sol Goldberg's Kids and Other Important People, while his work for Cornell provided provocative illustrations for numerous publications, including the Cornell Chronicle, and now is kept in the University Archives.

The next time an empty-handed Goldberg was given a camera was in 2000. He had sold off all his photographic equipment after retiring, in part because an infirmity that kept him in a wheelchair made his heavy photographer's bag too much for him to tote. But fellow Kendal resident and long-time subject of Goldberg's photography, Cornell President Emeritus Dale Corson, loaned him a digital camera and he launched a second career -- this time documenting the lives of fellow Cornellians and other residents of the retirement community.

Goldberg's last lecture, "How to Take a Photo Worth 1,000 Words," about two weeks before his death, was so well attended that a second session was scheduled, according to Sarah Suplee, the long-time companion who survives him. He also is survived by several cousins. Funeral services were held June 1 at Temple Beth El in Ithaca. Memorial donations may be made to the Salvation Army, Senior Citizens Center or Temple Beth El.

Robert W. Kime, operations manager of Cornell's Fruit and Vegetable Processing Pilot Plant at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., died May 27 at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. He was 56.

A dedicated food scientist, beekeeper and outdoorsman, Kime was committed to developing value-added products using the best that New York growers have to offer -- honey, apple cider, vegetables and fruit juices.

"His expertise was valuable to scientists across the station and to individuals in the private sector who contracted to use the pilot plant," said station Associate Director Robert Seem.

Kime was an innovative thinker who shared in several patents at the experiment station. He and food scientist Cy Lee developed an ultrafiltration method for honey that improved the sensory quality of traditional mead. Ultrafiltration has helped create major new markets for honey producers all over the world. The two also obtained a patent on the utilization of honey to clarify fruit juice in processing.

"Bob got as excited about the products we were creating as we did," said Chris Stamp, one of the owners of Lakewood Vineyards in Watkins Glen.

"Kimey," as many at the station knew him, also was a beekeeper and the owner of Kime Farm Honey.

"Bob did so much for beekeepers," said entomologist Nick Calderone, who directs Cornell's beekeeping program in Ithaca. "He was always coming up with new ways for the industry to use bee products."

Kime also was an avid outdoorsman and naturalist. Writing about Kime in the September 1998 issue of Harper's magazine, Susan Brind Morrow, a long-time family friend, called him "the best wing shot in western New York."

Kime was born in Waterloo, N.Y., graduated from SUNY Morrisville in 1966 and received his B.S. in 1968 at the University of Georgia in Athens. First employed at the experiment station in 1968, he left in 1969 to return to the University of Georgia for graduate studies, and then came back to the station in 1970 as a research technician. In 1979, he was promoted to research support specialist. In 1995, he was appointed operations manager of the food processing pilot plant.

He was first vice-president of the Empire State Honey Producers' Association (ESHPA), a member of the Finger Lakes Beekeeper Club, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wild Turkey Federation. Among his many awards, he was named the ESHPA's Beekeeper of the Year in 1990.

Kime is survived by his wife, Linda Horton Kime; his daughter, Colleen Kime, of Romulus, N.Y.; his son, Shawn (Carrie) Kime, of Geneva; his mother, Dorothy Kime, of Geneva; a sister, three brothers, and several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mercy Flight Central Inc., 2420 Brickyard Road, Canandaigua, N.Y. 14424; or to the South Seneca Ambulance Corp., 7100 N. Main St., Ovid, N.Y. 14521.