In Memoriam

Nancy Papalexis
Chauncey Starr

Nancy Papalexis

Nancy Papalexis, director of UCLA Live's Design for Sharing for more than 20 years, died April 14 in Los Angeles due to complications from cancer. She was 61.

A Los Angeles native and graduate of UC Berkeley, she started working at UCLA in 1977 as an assistant to Design for Sharing's founders, Mrs. Herbert Witherspoon and Mimi Perloff. As the organization grew, so did Papalexis' involvement. When Design for Sharing created a board of directors, she became its executive secretary and, eventually, director.

Under Papalexis' leadership, DFS grew from a small, volunteer-based program to one of the largest, most accomplished university-based outreach organizations in the country, reaching nearly 30,000 public school students each year. Papalexis worked closely with the board of directors and dozens of DFS volunteers, in addition to Los Angeles-area teachers and principals, to develop a program that meets the needs of underserved schools and communities.

Papalexis is survived by her husband, Attila Endrenyi; their son, Alex Endrenyi; and her sister, Christine Papalexis.

A memorial is being planned for June 16, with time and location to be determined..

Chauncey Starr

Chauncey Starr, former UCLA dean of engineering and applied science and internationally known nuclear energy consultant, died April 17 at age 95. He was taking a morning nap at his home in Atherton, Calif., when his heart stopped beating.

An active researcher, educator and administrator for more than 70 years, Starr was at the forefront of groundbreaking work in nuclear energy, energy production and policy, and risk analysis. Still very active in the weeks before his death, he worked with scientists, industrialists and politicians on development of the "SuperGrid" — an electrical system using superconductors to transport electricity and hydrogen simultaneously across the continent with near-zero energy losses.

Born on April 14, 1912, in Newark, N.J., Starr earned an electrical engineering degree in 1932 and a doctorate in physics in 1935 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. From 1935 to 1937, he was a Charles A. Coffin Fellow at Harvard University, working on the thermal conductivity of metals under high pressure. He also served as a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he designed and built one of the first adiabatic demagnetization apparatuses. In 1942, Starr was invited by E.O. Lawrence to join his group at the UC Berkeley Radiation Laboratory, investigating the electromagnetic separation of uranium isotopes.

Starr also spent 20 years in private industry. He served as vice president of North American Aviation, before the company became Rockwell International, and founded the company's Atomics International Division.

During World War II, Starr worked with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer for the Manhattan Engineering District at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., focusing on isotope separation technology. While there, he directed the construction and operation of a calutron pilot plant.

Starr served as dean of UCLA's School of Engineering and Applied Science from 1967 to 1973. In 1969 he wrote a landmark paper, published in the journal Science, on how to weigh the risks and social benefits of various technologies. The paper was the first to be based on holistic, quantitative research into the subject and is considered to be the basis for the interdisciplinary field of risk analysis.

Also while at UCLA, Starr founded the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, Calif., an independent, nonprofit center for energy and environmental research. He held the title of president emeritus until his death.

Among his many honors were the Atomic Energy Commission Award in 1974 for his work in the peaceful uses of atomic power; the 1988 International Technology Institute's Rockwell Medal for technology that contributes to the betterment of society; and the 1990 National Medal of Technology for his contributions to engineering and the electric industry. He was a former vice president of the National Academy of Engineering, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and an officer of the French Legion of Honor.