Deaths |
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December 8, 2015, Volume 62, No. 16 |
William G. Agnew, Penn Transit
Gaetan A. Campisi, Dental School
David M. Silfen, Penn Trustee, Vice Chair and Chair, SAS Board of Overseers
Thomas Tercilla, Penn Freshman
William G. Agnew, Penn Transit
William G. Agnew, a driver with Penn Accessible Transportation, died of a heart attack on November 19. He was 77 years old.
Mr. Agnew joined Penn’s department of transportation and parking in 1997. He was employed as a driver of the Handi-Van until the time of his death.
According to Trish C. Williams, house dean at Du Bois College House, “For the past six years or so, I was one of his passengers at least twice a week. But Mr. Bill didn’t consider me as just a passenger. He saw me as a ‘customer’ and treated me as such. As a ‘customer’ I was entitled to a special kind of service: I got picked up and dropped off as close to my destination as he could get, even if it meant breaking a rule. I never had to cross a street while walking with a cane. He gave me advice on how to take care of my knee after a replacement. But most of all, when Mr. Bill asked me, ‘How you doing today, Patricia?’ I was able to answer honestly and talk about my aches and pains. He really wanted to know how I was feeling. He was very good at his job and I will miss him immensely. ”
Mr. Agnew is survived by his daughters, Mary Anne, Annelie C. and Virginia G. (Brandon Schmidt); his grandson, Oliver Ryan Schmidt; and three brothers, Richard, Nicholas and Edward. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Colman Church, 11 Simpson Road, Ardmore, PA 19003.
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Gaetan A. Campisi, Dental School
Gaetan A. Campisi, a retired professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, died at home in Broomall, Pennsylvania on November 30. He was 91 years old.
Dr. Campisi was born in Philadelphia and attended South Philadelphia High School, then graduated from Temple University in 1948 with his dental degree.
He was a dental surgeon with a private practice in Aston, Pennsylvania, where he specialized in pediatric dentistry from the mid-1950s until his retirement in 1998. He was also a professor at Penn Dental for 31 years. He taught in the dental clinic, which provided dental care for those in need, particularly children. Upon his retirement from dentistry, he worked part-time in the Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University.
Dr. Campisi is survived by his children, Desiree (Robert), Anthony (Raymond) and Andrea (Alex).
In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Penn Dental Medicine, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Room F-31, 240 S. 40th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Contributions will help families in need with dental care.
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David M. Silfen, Penn Trustee, Vice Chair and Chair, SAS Board of Overseers
David M. Silfen, C’66, vice chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees and chairman of the School of Arts & Sciences’ Board of Overseers, died on November 28. He was 69 years old.
Mr. Silfen had served as a vice chair of Trustees since 2010. He became a Trustee in 1998 and served on the Executive, Nominating, External Affairs, Budget & Finance and Development committees, as well as the Investment Board and the ad hoc Committee on Campus Development that helped shape the Penn Connects master plan. As chair of the Trustees’ Development Committee from 2004-2009, he also took an active role in planning and executing the University’s $4.3 billion Making History campaign.
A longtime member of the Board of Overseers of the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) and its Executive and Development committees, Mr. Silfen was named Overseers’ chair in 2009. He provided invaluable advice to the SAS deans in areas such as fundraising, budgeting and strategic planning. He was one of the School’s most articulate advocates and took a key role in working to increase the rigor of the undergraduate program, to make opportunities for SAS students to take courses at other Penn schools and to involve other SAS Overseers and alumni as partners in the School. His tenure saw a renewed commitment to faculty diversity, the creation of the undergraduate Integrated Studies Program, record-breaking graduate applications, the construction of the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, the appointment of Steven Fluharty as dean of SAS, the successful completion of the School’s involvement in the Making History campaign and the groundbreaking of the new Neural-Behavioral Sciences Building, scheduled to open in 2016.
A Charter Trustee, Mr. Silfen was among the University’s most generous supporters. In 2005, he and his wife, Lyn, pledged $12 million to fund two Penn Integrates Knowledge professorships (Almanac March 14, 2006).
Their gift also created the annual David and Lyn Silfen University Forum in which Penn faculty join experts from around the world to discuss the most challenging questions confronting our society. The September 2015 forum was held in Beijing in conjunction with the opening of the Penn Wharton China Center (Almanac September 22, 2015). In 1992, the Silfens funded the David M. Silfen Term Professor of History of Art.
They also provided support for undergraduates, creating the Silfen Student Study Center in the Perelman Quadrangle (Almanac February 20, 1996), funding a project to study and enhance the curriculum in the College of Arts & Sciences, establishing junior travel fellowships in art history, and supporting the Penn History Review, a publication created by undergraduate history majors.
During his undergraduate years, Mr. Silfen was a history major and a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, the Mask & Wig Club, the People to People Club and the varsity golf team. There is now the Silfen Golf Simulator Room on the third floor of the Pottruck Health & Fitness Center. After graduating from the College in 1966, he went on to earn an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
In 1968, he joined Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner in 1978 and later rose to membership on the Executive Committee, the firm’s senior governing body. As the co-head of the Equities Division, with worldwide responsibility for sales, trading and capital market activities for all equity securities, he helped build the firm’s equity derivatives business. When he retired in 1996, he was Goldman’s second-longest-tenured partner. He remained a senior director at the firm and continued to serve as an advisor to his former colleagues.
In addition to his service at Penn, Mr. Silfen was the chairman of the Smithsonian Institution’s Investment Committee, a former vice chairman of the Smithsonian National Board, a member of a commission of the National Museum of American Art, a director of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and a trustee of the Riverdale Country School. At Columbia, he served on the Board of Overseers of the business school, established the David and Lyn Silfen Leadership Series and received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Mr. Silfen is survived by his wife, Lyn; their children, Adam, C’98, WG’03, and Jane, C’07; and their grandchildren, Anson and Riley.
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Thomas Tercilla, Penn Freshman
Thomas (“Tommy”) George Tercilla, a freshman in the Wharton School, died of a brain aneurysm on November 29 while at home in Florida for the Thanksgiving break. He was 19 years old.
Mr. Tercilla grew up in Miami and attended Christopher Columbus High School, where he was a member of the Mas Family Scholars Program, an accelerated program of studies for highly motivated students. He graduated in 2015. As a teenager, he volunteered at the University of Miami Mini Canes Summer Camp and His House Children’s Home. He attended Better Families for Tae Kwon Do and received a black belt in 2013. He entered the Wharton School in hopes of working on Wall Street. At Penn, he lived in Ware College House and was a member of the Wharton School’s Dollar cohort.
Mr. Tercilla is survived by his father, Orlando; his mother, Margarita; his sister, Victoria; and his grandmother, Lucia Garcia Barrera.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to benefit the Thomas George Tercilla Scholarship Fund at Christopher Columbus High School, c/o Brother Kevin Handibode, 3000 SW 87th Avenue, Miami, FL 33165. A scholarship fund has also been established in Mr. Tercilla’s name at Better Families for Tae Kwon Do, 6723 SW 81st Street, Miami, FL 33143, Attn: Mary Beth. |
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