Obituaries
Please alert us to the recent death of any other Rhodes Scholar by emailing communications@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk.
Michael was born in South Africa and grew up in Zimbabwe and was educated at the University of Cape Town, and at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (Rhodesia and St. Edmund Hall, 1949). Michael immigrated to Canada in 1952 where he enjoyed a varied career as an engineer and economist. After retirement he remained active and engaged, for example, publishing a book to persuade the public of the need to act on issues such as climate change.
It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of David Osborn.
Even with his outsized success in business, Dick remained a humble man of utmost integrity. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Dick continued his studies as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford, England. After completing three years there, he returned to the U.S. and taught Political Science and Government at Harvard and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1964 Dick began his career at G&K Services, his family's business. Eschewing a more important starting role at the company, Dick joined G&K as a "route man" in a small Minnesota town to learn about the company from the bottom up. Dick's knack for leadership, along with an uncanny acumen for business strategy and tactics, led to his becoming president of the company in 1969, the same year that G&K Services went public. Eight years later, Dick became Chairman of the Board.
Dick was active in both The United Way and The Minneapolis Federation for Jewish Service. He and his wife Beverly were strong advocates of education and the arts, supporting The University of Minnesota, as well as The Minnesota State College system. Dick also served on the Board of the Minnesota Orchestra and generously supported the Walker Art Center and the MIA. Throughout his adult life Dick had been a collector of fine art-primarily art of the '50s and '60s. With a terrific eye and indomitable passion, Dick championed a select group of upcoming artists, several of whom later became highly successful.
While Dick accomplished more in his lifetime than most people could imagine, to the people closest to him, he was loved for his humility, his thoughtfulness, and his gentle nature. He will be remembered as a quiet man who did so much for so many.
Mordecai graduated from the University of Alberta and was awarded a Rhodes scholarship. He spent the next two years at Oxford University, England where he met his wife and started the political activism which he sustained throughout his life for many causes but always in the cause of Social Justice. He also did doctoral studies at the University of Berkeley, California before returning to Canada and teaching at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College.
Kenneth Love studied History at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1955. He went on to work at IBM, in Portland.
Born in Malta, De Bono received his initial education at St Edward’s College and the Royal University of Malta, where he achieved a degree in medicine. He then attended Christchurch, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar where he gained a degree in psychology and physiology and a DPhil in medicine.
Edward obtained a PhD from Cambridge, a DDes from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and a LLD from Dundee. He had faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard.
De Bono fathered the phrase lateral thinking, which has an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary, and developed multiple thinking strategies, including the Six Thinking Hats method.
His ideas have been sought by governments, not for profit organisations and many of the leading corporations in the world. The global consultancy, Accenture, chose him as one of the fifty most influential business thinkers.
It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Michael McCall.
Michael E. Smith, age 78, of Minneapolis, Minn., passed away on Monday, May 31, 2021, from lung cancer, at his home surrounded by love. He was born on June 30, 1942, the son of Francis E. Smith and Alexandra McNally Smith. He was a loving father to his children, Graham and Charlotte, enjoying their company and valuing the uniqueness of each of their personalities. He cherished the happiness and loving companionship that he found with his wife, Kate.
Michael graduated from Princeton University in 1965, attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar from 1965-1967, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1970. He played college football for the Princeton Tigers and was the starting center in their undefeated 1964 season. He was the recipient of the 1965 Pyne Prize, the highest distinction conferred on a graduating senior. In 1990, Princeton awarded him a Maclean Fellowship for distinguished alumni, citing his contributions in the field of criminal justice.
From 1978 to 1994, Michael directed the non-profit Vera Institute for Justice in New York City, serving as its president from 1988 to 1995. Under his leadership, Vera developed a multidisciplinary team of criminologists, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, social workers, and lawyers to devise innovative reforms in crime control and justice administration. This action research launched numerous successful collaborations with criminal justice agencies and demonstration projects that spun off into independent organizations in the areas of holistic public defense, community policing, and alternatives to incarceration. From 1995 until 2009, Michael served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, where he taught courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, and a seminar on sentencing and corrections. Under his direction, Wisconsin hosted NIJ executive sessions on sentencing and corrections; he served on two governors' task forces on sentencing and corrections matters; and he was invited to advise other states as they reviewed their criminal justice practices. Michael also served as a visiting professor at Yale Law School and Hofstra Law School and from 2011-2014 as the executive director for the Robina Institute for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota.
Michael's deepest commitments throughout his career were to those who were less fortunate than himself. As an undergraduate student, he coordinated a delegation to the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools in the Jim Crow South. His projects at the Vera Institute focused on creating employment for ex-offenders, opportunities for persons experiencing housing insecurity, and systems for self-sufficiency among the elderly and persons with a variety of disabilities. Michael possessed a rare combination of an agile mind and a deep heart. He was regularly described by those who knew him as one of the smartest people they had ever met. He coupled his intelligence with profound empathy and insight into the inner lives of others, making him a strong and effective advocate. He maintained deep, long-lasting friendships and charmed more casual acquaintances with his kindness and humor. As a teacher, he left an indelible mark on the lives of his students, shaping them not only as thinkers, but as explorers of what he liked to call "life, its meaning and purpose." He had a great love for sailing and was an avid golfer and skier. He also enjoyed adventures of the mind as a voracious reader.