Merilee S. Grindle, Mason professor of international development, said the KSG depended on Lucker's wisdom, noting the frequency with which the phrase "Ask Marge" was heard around the school. "I confess to being a committed ask-Marger," she said.

Lucker sang, played piano and was a member of the Follen Church Choir. She had served on the Board of Directors of the John Oliver Chorale.

J. Anthony Lukas '55

Nearing the completion of his fifth book Big Trouble, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author J. Anthony Lukas '55 committed suicide in his Manhattan apartment June 5. He was 64.

Lukas, a former Crimson executive, graduated magna cum laude with a degree in government. He later studied as both a Nieman and an Institute of Politics Fellow and served as an adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government in 1979.

Best known for his work examining social trends through landmark events, Lukas began his career writing for The Baltimore Sun and The New York Times and taught at several prominent American universities.

His colleagues and literary critics hail Lukas as a talented historian.

Lukas "was a brilliant writer and one of the seminal journalists of his generation," said Carolyn Reidy, president and publisher of the Simon & Schuster Trade Division. "His death is a devastating loss."

Donald N. Medearis Jr

Wilder Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and retired Chief of Pediatric Services at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Donald N. Medearis Jr. died Sept. 29 of heart failure at the age of 70.

Medearis was a member of the HMS faculty from 1977 until his retirement in 1995, but worked daily until his death.

"His loss was immediately felt," said R. Alan Ezekowitz, the current Wilder professor of pediatrics and Medearis' successor at MGH.

Specializing in the study of pediatric infectious diseases, Medearis was especially interested in children's emergency room care. In 1993 he published a study concluding that in many cases, care and equipment in emergency rooms are not tailored to children's needs.

He also pioneered a combined medical-pediatric residency program at MGH and helped shape the Medical School's core curriculum.

HMS has named a research day in Medearis' honor and the Butler-Medearis Education Fund will raise money to endow a lectureship in his name. He also served on President Carter's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine.