R.M. Hanna, Landscape Architecture

Robert Mitchell Hanna, landscape architect, and former chair of Design of the Environment, died on March 8 at the age of 67.

Mr. Hanna received a B.A. in architecture from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1959, and earned his MLA from Harvard in 1967. He worked as an architect for the Planning Design Group of the Urban Design Department of the Boston Redevelopment Authority from 1967 to 1969. He joined Penn in 1969 as a lecturer and became an assistant professor of landscape architecture and regional planning in 1970. He was promoted to associate professor in 1976 and remained in that position until 1990. He became an adjunct professor in 1990 and served in this position until 2000. He had been teaching a course in the Urban Studies Program since the spring of 2000. Mr. Hanna was instrumental in forming the undergraduate Design of the Environment (DOE) program and served as its first chair. He participated in the formulation of the Landscape Architecture Master Plan for the University that resulted in the development of College Green and led to the current landscape setting of the University.

Mr. Hanna was a founding partner in the firm of Hanna/Olin Ltd., in 1976. The firm's projects included: the master plan for Battery Park City; the Fifth Avenue Terrace of the New York Public Library; Bryant Park; IBM World Headquarters; Ellis Island; the US Holocaust Museum; Canary Wharf in London; the 16th St. Transit Mall in Denver; and the public framework for the Los Angeles Downtown Strategic Plan. Since 1995 Mr. Hanna served as principal of RM Hanna Landscape Architects, and his projects include the University of Washington, Tacoma, Canberra Central National Area, Australia; the Hun School, Princeton; the Tianfu Square Master Plan, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; and a new town square for Pottstown, PA.

Mr. Hanna was a Fellow for the American Academy in Rome and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly Briggs (MLA'79); a son, Robert Jr.; and a sister, Hazel Bacon. A memorial service is scheduled for March 22 at 4 p.m. at the Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22 & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia.

Dr. Sunderman, Medicine

Dr. Frederick William Sunderman, professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine, died on March 9, at the age of 104.

Dr. Sunderman received his B.A. from Gettysburg College in 1919, and graduated from Penn's School of Medicine in 1923. He earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Penn in 1929.

Dr. Sunderman was the director of the William Pepper Laboratory at Penn in the 1930s where he developed methods for the measurement of blood cholesterol, glucose and chloride. During World War II, he was medical director of Explosive Research at Carnegie Institute of Technology and Los Alamos Laboratories also known as the Manhattan 8 Project. There he developed an antidote for nickel carbonyl poisoning. He was also responsible for the standardization of hemoglobin measurements throughout the world. He was the founder of the Association of Clinical Scientists. Dr. Sunderman assisted in the setup of the Brookhaven National Laboratories medical department and served as medical consultant at the Redstone Arsenal from 1947-1969. He was also the head of the clinical pathology department at the Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta. Other institutions he worked at include the Cleveland Clinic, the M.D. Anderson Hospital Cancer Center in Texas, and Emeroy University. Dr. Sunderman co-wrote more than 300 scientific papers and 45 books. He was the editor of The Annals of Clinical and Laboratory Science from its first edition in 1971 and was working on the latest edition at the time of his death.

"His biggest contribution was to bring rigorous scientific standards to the medical laboratory," said Michael J. Warhol, chairman of pathology at Pennsylvania Hospital where Dr. Sunderman worked for many years.

Dr. Sunderman was also an accomplished musician who--on the occasion of his 100th birthday--played a violin duet with his son at Carnegie Hall. In 1999, Experience Works, Inc. named him the oldest worker in America. He also wrote an autobiography titled A Time to Remember (1998), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

He is survived by his son, F. William Sunderman Jr.; three grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Memorial donations may be made to Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, 2110 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103.