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IN MEMORIAM
On December 8, 2002, junior
dental student Ashfin Tom Fakourfar passed away
unexpectedly due to a heart attack induced by complications
from a foot injury.
Before coming to USCSD,
Fakourfar received his B.S. degree from Cal State Dominquez
Hills and his M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. In
addition to his scholarly endeavors, he excelled in sports,
particularly football, and worked long hours in his family’s
restaurant where he was responsible for all daily operations.
During his time at the School
of Dentistry, Fakourfar was a dedicated dental student and
active in student life activities. He was a two-time Dean’s
List scholar, student representative to the American Student
Dental Association and clinic coordinator for the Class of
2004.
Immensely popular among
faculty, staff and students alike, he will be sorely missed by
all who had the good fortune to know him. Two of his closest
friends, and his roommates during dental school, had the
following to say about their departed friend:
“I met Afshin the first day
of dental school three years ago. By the end of the week, we
had already begun our beautiful friendship. Soon after that, I
realized I had found more than a friend, Afshin was my
brother. Afshin and I had formed an inseparable bond. Although
we were both the oldest sons of our families, Afshin also
became my older brother, my teacher, and mentor. Afshin opened
doors for me and allowed me to get a glimpse at the role I
should play in this world. Without Afshin’s guidance, there
would be many things that I would never realize or understand.
I have become a better person because Afshin valued friends,
family, dignity, and virtue. I could only wish that I can
become half the man Afshin wanted me to be. No matter how
difficult dental school became, Afshin’s bright smile kept
my life full of joy and happiness. Afshin left all of us with
an important lesson: To fill our lives with laughter. Afshin,
I miss you and I thank you for the gift of your friendship. I
only wish we had one more day together.”
-Mohammad Mostofi, Class of
2004
“It’s amazing that in the
short time that I knew Tom in dental school, he became one of
the best friends I ever had. It’s not all that surprising
though, since if you knew Tom, you’d know he was easy to get
to know because of his agreeable nature. Tom was one of the
kindest, most caring and giving people I have ever known. He
wasn’t just a good friend and a roommate to me though, he
was also a role model. He always gave every last ounce of
effort to anything that he did, and he’d go out of his way
to help you with any problem that you had. He was also my
mentor and tutor. I always came to him first for advice on
everything from weight lifting to cars and taxes, not just
dentistry. Regardless of the subject, he always had many words
of wisdom. I know many of the people that knew him share
similar experiences, since he was such a selfless person. In
the end, all we can do is be thankful for the many ways he’s
touched our lives.”
-Arpad Sooky, Class of 2004
Professor Barbara G. Mills,
a member of the school’s faculty for thirty-five years,
passed away December 19, 2002 following a long battle with
cancer. Mills, whose research focused on bone physiology, was
an internationally recognized expert on Paget disease.
“Barbara brought honor to the
School of Dentistry as a distinguished researcher, dedicated
educator and school representative on numerous university
committees. She loved to learn and to teach, and we will all
miss her very much,” said Dean Slavkin.
In 1978, Mills founded the
Orthopaedic Research Center’s Bone Physiology Laboratory,
along with four other USC faculty, and became the lab’s
director. She and colleagues at the Center were among the
first to discover evidence that suggested a viral etiology for
Paget’s disease. In 1998, the Paget Foundation recognized
her commitment to the study and treatment of this disease with
the John B. Johnson Award.
Mills earned a B.A. and M.S.
degree in biochemistry at the University of Nebraska and an
M.D. from the University of Chicago School of Medicine. She
became a postdoctoral fellow in the department of biochemistry
at the USC School of Dentistry in 1964 and joined the
full-time faculty three years later. She practiced medicine
one day a week at the USC Student Health Center until 1985.
During her tenure at USC, she
held joint appointments in the Keck School of Medicine
(1980-1998) and the Graduate School (1972-1998). She was an
educator and research mentor for not only dentistry students,
but also for medical students, orthopedic residents, and
molecular biology and craniofacial biology graduate students.
Despite her illness, she continued to meet her teaching
responsibilities until less than two weeks before her death.
For the past 21 years, Mills
served on the Health Sciences Campus’ Institutional Review
Board for research involving human subjects. She served two
terms as the School of Dentistry’s Faculty Senate
representative and was active in numerous other school and
university committees.
She is survived by her husband
of 49 years, Richard; sons Robert and Richard, Jr.; Richard’s
wife, Jan; and four grandchildren.
L. Daniel Schaeffer, an
associate professor in the division of diagnostic sciences,
died of melanoma on December 13 following a lengthy illness.
He joined the USC School of Dentistry faculty in 1970 and
served as chairman of the department of physiology from
1970-1977 and led the section of physiology from 1988-1991.
He first came to USC as a
graduate student after completing his B.S. degree at Wichita
State University in 1961. He earned his M.S. degree in 1964
and a Ph.D. in cellular physiology in 1969 at USC. During this
period, he worked with his mentor, Arnold Dunn, and a research
team whose work on hormonal control of metabolism produced
seminal articles in the scientific literature.
It was noted in the memorial
service program that his postdoctoral research conducted under
R. H. Williams at the University of Washington School of
Medicine, led to the discovery of “proglucagon,” a major
breakthrough in understanding carbohydrate metabolism.
“Dan made many scientific
contributions towards understanding the physiology of diabetes
and was a superb facilitator for student learning,” said
Dean Slavkin.
Schaeffer participated in the
development of the dental school’s integrated basic and
clinical science curriculum and served as its coordinator from
1995 to 2001. He was a valued facilitator in the problem-based
learning curriculum that followed. In addition to teaching
dentistry students, he was a graduate research advisor for
students in dentistry, medicine and the College of Letters
Arts and Sciences.
An active member of several
school and university committees, Schaeffer served two terms
as a member of the USC Faculty Senate and again represented
the dental school in the Senate while he was president of the
Dental Faculty Assembly. Schaeffer was the president of the
American Association of Dental School’s physiology section
for several years. He was a member of the American Dental
Association’s National Board Test Construction Committee for
the section on biochemistry-physiology.
Shaffer earned a D.D.S. degree
at USC in 1979. In 1989, while a member of the attending staff
at Childrens Hospital, he founded a research group on the oral
aspects of AIDS in children and was invited to speak at the
first International Symposium on Oral AIDS. In addition to his
full-time faculty position, he had a dental practice in
Northridge, California. He was a member of the attending staff
at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and became chair of
their dental department in 1998.
Schaeffer is survived by his
wife, Christine; daughters, Elizabeth and Julie; and sons,
Sean and Patrick.
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