Community Briefs

Psychology Lecturer Goethals Dead at 74

Retired Senior Lecturer of Psychology Dr. George W. Goethals II '43 died in his home Monday after a brief illness. He was 74.

Goethals, a Watertown native, graduated from the College after serving in the army during World War II. He taught high school in Edgartown, Mass, and returned to Harvard to earn his masters and doctorate degrees in education, the Boston Globe reported yesterday.

Goethals taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1952 to 1956 and joined the Harvard faculty, where he taught in the School of Education, the departments of Social Relations and Psychology and the Extension School from 1956 to 1992.

In the 1970s he became a lecturer on psychology and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and principal psychologist at Cambridge Hospital. In 1992 he received the Petra Shattuck Teaching Award at the Extension School.

Goethals continued to teach at the Extension School until December, when he became sick and had to be admitted to the hospital.

An avid baseball player, he pitched for a semi-pro baseball team during his years as a graduate student, according to the Globe report.

Goethals was the author of "The Role of Schools in Mental Health" and "Experiencing Youth." His teaching and research focused on adolescents.

Archaeology Professor Dow Dead at 91

John E. Hudson Professor of Archaeology Sterling Dow '25, a leading historian of ancient Greece, died at Mt. Auburn Hospital last month after a brief illness. He was 91.

Dow, a Cambridge native, earned his masters and doctorate degrees from Harvard in history. He spent from 1931 to 1936 in Athens at the American School of Classical Studies, where he worked primarily on ancient Greek inscriptions.

It was in Greece that Dow perfected the art of making paper impressions, which enabled scholars to read the inscriptions more efficiently than previously has been possible. He considered his years in Athens to be the basis for his scholarly work and the inspiration for his teaching. He spent several sabbatical years in Athens, and sent many of his own students to the American School.

Dow returned to Harvard in 1936 and taught at the University until 1970. Dow was a member of the Classics and History departments. After retiring from Harvard in 1970, he taught at Boston College as Distinguished Professor of Greek Civilization and History from 1970 to 1977, and at Vassar College as Blegen Distinguished Professor in 1978.

As a scholar, Dow was known primarily for his contributions to Greek epigraphy and history. He wrote more than 150 articles and reviews and five books.

Dow was one of the most effective and popular teachers of his time. His two-term survey of Greek history regularly attracted more than 100 undergraduates and he supervised more than 30 Ph.D. dissertations.

Molecular Genetics Expert Bernard N. Fields Dead at 56

Adele Lehman Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Bernard N. Fields, a leading virologist who helped direct the nation's AIDS research program, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in West Newton on Tuesday. He was 56.

Fields, chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the Medical School since 1982, was highly regarded by colleagues.

"Bernie Fields was among the foremost virologists of the century," said Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate and director of the National Institute of Health.

"Like many others, he understood the power of new molecular and cellular methods for dissecting viral functions," Varmus told the Harvard Gazette. "But unlike most others, he retained a deep appreciation for the fact that viruses infect whole organisms, not just cells in petri dishes, and that these infection cause human suffering and death."

Born in Brooklyn on March 24, 1938, Fields received his bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in 1958 and his medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine in 1962.

Following a clinical research fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Fields worked in Atlanta for the National Communicable Disease Center, now the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1975, Fields came to Harvard Medical School as a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics and chief of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was appointed professor of medicine in 1981. HONORS

CBS Anchor Wallace Honored

Veteran CBS reporter and "60 Minutes" co-anchor Mike Wallace will receive the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism next month at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

"The first thing that came to my mind was that this is a good opportunity for a free meal," said Wallace's grandson Peter F. Wallace '97, a Crimson editor.

The award, given annually by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, will be presented at a dinner on Thursday, March 9.

At the ceremony, officials from Harvard's Shorenstein Center will also present the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting as well as several fellowships and research awards.

The six finalists for this year's investigative reporting prize include television and print reporters from across the country. The winner will be chosen by a committee of media experts from both Harvard and outside of the University.