Frank DeFalco, Huong Higgins, Thomas Newman, and Others
Frank DeFalco, Civil Engineering Professor and Wrestling Advisor
DeFalco (center) at a WPI wrestling meet.
Frank DeFalco ’58, whose career as professor of civil engineering at WPI spanned nearly six decades, passed away on Nov. 13, 2020. He was 86.
A Worcester native, DeFalco joined the WPI faculty in 1960 after earning BS and MS degrees in civil engineering at the Institute. He earned a PhD at the University of Connecticut in 1974.
A licensed professional engineer for more than 50 years and an accomplished professional land surveyor, he taught structural engineering to generations of students. Early in his WPI career, he taught in Iraq for two years under a Fulbright award. He earned WPI’s Board of Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Teaching, received a special commendation for achievement in engineering education from the Lincoln Arc Welding Society, and, in 2001, received WPI’s William R. Grogan Award for Support of the Mission of WPI. Each spring the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering presents the Frank D. DeFalco Award to a student interested in a career in constructed facilities.
DeFalco’s expertise in structural engineering placed him in great demand as a source for the media and an expert witness in the courtroom. His professional accomplishments earned him a wide range of honors, including fellowship in the American Society of Civil Engineers.
A lifelong athlete, DeFalco, who in 1994 received the Frank C. Harrington Award from the WPI Athletic Hall of Fame, was closely tied to WPI’s wrestling program for over five decades, serving at times as advisor, volunteer assistant coach, and supporter. In October 2020, wrestling alumni established an endowment to honor the man generations of wrestlers knew as “Uncle Frank.” “His help in academic advising and academic support for our team members was fantastic,” said longtime wrestling coach Phil Grebinar. “He was a terrific person and leader.”
DeFalco is survived by his wife, Mary-Jane, a daughter, and a sister. Donations to the Dr. Frank DeFalco Endowment for Wrestling may be made online (wpi.edu/+giving) or mailed to WPI Athletics Department, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609.
Huong Higgins, Professor in the Foisie Business School
Huong Higgins, a longtime professor of accounting in WPI’s Foisie Business School, died on Oct. 13, 2020, of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. She was 56.
Born in Saigon, she graduated from the University of Saigon with degrees in English and French. After her family moved to the United States, she earned a PhD in accounting from Georgia State University in 1998 and joined the WPI faculty the same year. Higgins conducted research on global accounting practices, investigating how institutions in different countries shape the behavior of market participants. She was a co-principal investigator on a $515,000 National Science Foundation award received in 2014 for research aimed at developing visual analytics tools for detecting financial risk and fraud within real-time streaming data. A Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she also served as a consultant to a number of organizations.
She published extensively in leading accounting journals, including Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Financial Analysts Journal, and Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation. With associate professor Fabienne Miller, she received the 2016 Bea Sanders/American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Innovation in Teaching Award for a project titled “UBuild: A Simulation Bridging Financial and Managerial Accounting. “She was a strong proponent of financial education and believed that every student would benefit from financial competencies,” Miller said.
Higgins is survived by her husband, Read; their children, Annie and Conan; her mother, Cut Vo; and two brothers. “She is fondly remembered and will be greatly missed by her FBS colleagues,” said Diane Strong, professor and department head in the Foisie Business School.
Thomas Newman Jr. ’64, Former Alumni Association Treasurer
Tom Newman ’64, former treasurer of the Alumni Association and co-chair, with his wife, Bonnie, of the Alden Society, passed away suddenly on Oct. 4, 2020. He was 77.
Tom, who received a BS in electrical engineering from WPI, also earned an MS in the same discipline at Northeastern University and an MBA at Babson College. In a 2014 interview with the Journal, he said he traced his passion for using technology to benefit humanity to a ham radio demonstration he saw as a sixth grader. “I literally decided that day to become an engineer, so I’d be able to achieve those benefits.” His passion took him to Sylvania, where he met his future wife, and then on to a 37-year career at Teradyne, where he held a variety of leadership posts before retiring in 2009 as vice president of corporate marketing and communications.
Tom was an active volunteer for WPI for many years, serving most recently as chair of the Class of 1964’s 50th reunion, which broke Reunion fundraising records. As Alumni Association treasurer, he tripled
the association’s budget and used the increase to support more student scholarships. His work for WPI earned him the Herbert F. Taylor Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to WPI. Seeing in today’s students the same drive he felt as a youngster, he and his wife established the Tom and Bonnie Newman Entrepreneurial Endowed Fund, which supports entrepreneurial activities at WPI and scholarships. He served on the Dean’s Council of Strategic Advisors for the Foisie Business School. In establishing this fund, he recalled how important financial aid had been to him. “Scholarships were invaluable to me,” he said. “I couldn’t have gone to WPI without them.”
In addition to his wife, Tom is survived by a brother; seven nieces; and a nephew. He was survived by his mother, Louisa Newman Ovanessian, who since passed away at the age of 97.
Other Completed Careers
Kenneth Bartlett ’43, Landrum, S.C.
James Dashner ’44 ME, ALPHA TAU OMEGA, Durham, N.C.
Anson Fyler ’45 EE, PHI GAMMA DELTA, Trustee Emeritus, Vero Beach, Fla.
Robert Ballard ’46 ME, ALPHA TAU OMEGA, Saint Louis, Mo.
Neal Cox ’49 EE, Rocky Hill, Conn.
Edgar Vollaro ’50 CHE, Grand Island, N.Y.
Duncan Munro ’51 CE, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Worcester, Mass.
Wilfred Beauregard ’52 EE, Berlin, Mass.
Paul DesAutels ’52 EE, LAMBDA CHI ALPHA, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Paul Edwards ’52, SIGMA PHI EPSILON, East Orleans, Mass.
John Cnossen ’55 ME, ’72 MNS, Douglas, Mass.
Paul Dalton ’57 CE, PHI SIGMA KAPPA, Dover, Mass.
John Matuszek ’57 CH, PHI KAPPA THETA, Delmar, N.Y.
Robert Purple ’57 EE, PHI KAPPA THETA, Nashua, N.H.
Donald Bean ’58 CHE, SIGMA PHI EPSILON, Shrewsbury, Mass.
Joseph Belanger ’58 EE, THETA CHI, Haverhill, Mass.
Robert Boyea ’58 ME, PHI KAPPA THETA, Wellesley Hills, Mass.
James Christo ’58, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Holden, Mass.
James Dunne ’58 CE, PHI KAPPA THETA, Linthicum Heights, Md.
Paul Byron ’60 ME, Wilmington, N.C.
Preston Hall ’61 SIM, Lancaster, Mass.
Alan Roseen ’61 EE, Frankfort, N.Y.
John Meregian ’62 CHE, SIGMA PHI EPSILON, East Longmeadow, Mass.
Daniel Webster ’62 EE, Westhampton, Mass.
David Helsing ’64 EE, SIGMA PHI EPSILON, Tinton Falls, N.J.
Eugene Niemi ’64 MS ME, Dracut, Mass.
Harry Ochs ’65 EE, Savoy, Ill.
David Drescher ’67 MS EE, Nashua, N.H.
Warren Jacobson ’69 SIM, West Boylston, Mass.
Barry Shiffrin ’69 EE, Lancaster, Penn.
Edward George ’71 ME, New Alexandria, Penn.
Richard Kmiec ’76 CHE, Rutherford, N.J.
Anthony Modestino ’76 MS CH, Hanson, Mass.
Manoj Shah ’78 MS ME, Gujarat, India
Judith Batchelor ’81 EE, Weatogue, Conn.
Gregory Doyle ’82 CE, PHI KAPPA THETA, Framingham, Mass.
Joseph Ferrari ’87 CE, Medford, Mass.
Michael Tinglof ’88 CS, Concord, Mass.
Joseph McLaughlin ’90 MBA, Harwich, Mass.
Barbara Roberts ’90 EE, Worcester, Mass.
Frederic Stevens ’90 MS MG, Milford, Mass.
Harry Tenney Jr. ’56, former Alumni Association President, passed away while this issue of
the WPI Journal was being put together. An extended obituary will appear in the next issue.
The WPI community also notes the passing of these friends of the university: Sylvia Bryce,
Joseph Erevelles, Scott Feldman, John Gaucher, Caroline June, Charles O’Connor,
Stanley Olsen, and Louise Shipman.
Complete obituaries can usually be found online by searching legacy.com or newspaper
websites. WPI Journal will assist classmates in locating additional information. Contact
wpijournal@wpi.edu.