Obituaries

Frank Brilando

ME ’52, Niles, Ill., helped create an iconic bicycle—the Schwinn Sting-Ray—that gave countless kids a breakthrough dream machine on two wheels. Advertised as the “bike that changed cycling,” the sporty Sting-Ray featured high-rise handlebars and a banana-shaped seat, a dramatic redesign among bicycles when it made its debut in 1963. Besides the innovative Sting-Ray, Brilando, who worked as a designer and engineer at Schwinn for more than 40 years, also helped create the Schwinn Varsity and Continental bicycles, and the Airdyne fan-resistance stationary exercise bicycle. He also assisted in the launch of the first derailleur-equipped mass-produced bicycles in the United States. A two-time summer Olympics cyclist (1948, 1952), Brilando contributed to the initial United States Consumer Product Safety Commission on bicycle safety standards.


Ralph Brill

Chicago, professor of law emeritus, was a member of the Chicago-Kent College of Law faculty for 58 years. He also served as associate dean from 1970–73 and as acting dean the following year. Brill was perhaps best known for establishing the first three-year legal writing program in the country, which he directed from its opening in 1977 until 1991. Brill’s leadership in this area also led to the creation of Chicago-Kent’s Moot Court Honor Society. He was the society’s first faculty advisor and headed the program for more than a decade; during that time, students won numerous national and regional titles. In 2011 Chicago-Kent established its first endowed faculty chair and named it in honor of Brill, who received prominent awards for his contributions to the field of legal writing including the Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute.


Sidney Jeffe

ME ’50, Tucson, Ariz., joined Chrysler Corporation after graduating from Illinois Institute of Technology and worked at the company for 32 years as an automotive engineer and executive, becoming vice president of engineering and research. He was also an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University during his last two years at Chrysler, and then went on to hold executive positions at Sheller-Globe Corporation and Mesnel S.A.-Schlegel Corporation. Jeffe was awarded several patents related to a vehicle’s transmission and advanced braking systems, and developed a hydrogen-powered, hybrid, solid-fuel storage system.


George Kacek Jr.

EE ’54, M.S. ’55, Chelmsford, Mass., began his career at General Electric soon after graduation and within seven months was drafted into the United States Army, where he served in the Signal Group on Okinawa, Japan. He then returned to GE, working for 15 years in management and in computer software. He was then employed for 25 years at the Raytheon Company. Over the course of his career he helped to develop power systems for aerospace and the military, working on Atlas missiles and the Patriot missile system.


James Lemke

PHYS ’59, La Jolla, Calif., was credited with being a physicist, entrepreneur, inventor, mentor, and holder of more than 110 patents in the fields of information theory, magnetic materials, information storage devices, aviation, and internal combustion engines. Lemke began six high-tech research and development companies including Spin Physics, Inc., a developer and supplier of high-density magnetic recording equipment and materials, which he sold to Eastman Kodak in 1972. Lemke also founded Achates Power to develop a fuel-efficient, light, and clean diesel engine. He was most recently working on a noninvasive way to detect breast cancer through his latest company, Scan Physics. Lemke was a member and/or fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, among others.


Richard Molay

LPSC ’58, Temple Terrace, Fla., and Saranac Lake, N.Y., was known to family and friends as a talented wordsmith. He was a creative director at the former Bozell & Jacobs advertising agency for 10 years and then became president of Production Associates, Inc., a television production facility specializing in commercials and industrial videos.


Jeffrey Sherman

Chicago, professor of law emeritus, joined the Chicago-Kent College of Law faculty as an associate professor in 1978, after teaching two years at the University of Illinois College of Law. He was a visiting professor at a number of schools, including Harvard Law School (Sherman’s alma mater), UCLA School of Law, and the University of Miami School of Law. Sherman wrote extensively in the areas of wills, taxation, and employee benefits, and is the author of Pension Planning and Deferred Compensation and New Limitations on Contributions and Benefits. Named a Norman and Edna Freehling Scholar and an Arthur and Marjorie West Scholar in 1989, in 1991 he was elected an academic fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.