Fellowships Honor Professor Ed Ma’s Legacy
Teachers can impact students in profound ways. And among the many WPI professors who exemplify these special educators, the late Professor Yi Hua (Ed) Ma is high on the list.
Read StoryIn Memoriam Fall-Winter 2025
Ray Gilbert, Former Longtime Athletic Director
Ray Gilbert, longtime WPI director of physical education and athletics, passed away on Aug. 20. Gilbert served in that role for 15 years, from 1987 until his retirement in 2002.
During Gilbert’s tenure, WPI athletics enjoyed success: 14 conference championships, 29 NCAA appearances, and numerous honors for coaches and student athletes at the conference, regional, and national levels. He was also instrumental in moving the men’s and women’s athletic programs to new conferences, first to the NEW 8 Conference and later the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Gilbert also served as NEWMAC president from 1997 to 1999 and was among those honored by the conference with a Champions of Excellence Service Award as part of the NEWMAC’s 25th anniversary celebration in 2022–23. He was also the president of the New England College Athletic Conference (1993–94).
Ray Gilbert
Four head coaches hired by Gilbert remain on the Engineers’ staff today and all are WPI Hall of Fame inductees: Larry Noble of men’s rowing, Jason Steele of women’s rowing, Cherise Galasso of women’s basketball, and Chris Bartley of men’s basketball.
Gilbert was born in 1940 in Westfield, Mass., and grew up in Granby, Conn. He played varsity basketball at Springfield College, receiving a bachelor’s degree in physical education. After earning his master’s degree in athletic administration from Springfield, he was an assistant professor of physical education there, as well as the assistant men’s varsity basketball coach alongside his mentor, head coach Ed Bilik. In 1978, Gilbert became Springfield’s assistant director of athletics under Ed Steitz. He also coached men’s and women’s varsity golf.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Susan, and their two daughters and their families.
Leon Graubard, Former Economics Professor Who Helped Define the IQP
Leon S. Graubard, who taught economics at WPI for nearly 33 years and helped define one of the most innovative elements of the WPI Plan—the university’s groundbreaking approach to technological education—died on Sept. 10, 2025. He was 94.
Graubard earned a bachelor of arts in economics at The City University of New York’s Queens College in 1952 and then served for two years in the U.S. Army in Korea, earning the Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Stars. He went on to receive a master of arts in economics from Columbia University and a postgraduate certificate in economics from the London School of Economics before completing work toward a doctorate in economics at Brown University.
He taught economics at Brown for six years before joining the WPI faculty in 1969, just as the faculty committee that would create the WPI Plan was beginning its work. That same year, WPI received a $200,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to launch the Environmental Systems Study program, through which students tackled environmental challenges with interdisciplinary project work. The program would serve as a model for the Interdisciplinary Qualifying Project (IQP), which now requires all undergraduates to explore topics at the intersection of science, technology, and society. The IQP was given definition in 1971 by an interdisciplinary faculty committee on which Graubard served.
In 1981, Graubard and his late wife, Pamela, spent six months in Dalian, China, helping establish an industrial management academy through a joint venture between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the People’s Republic of China. After retiring in 2002, at the age of 70, he earned a juris doctor degree at Northeastern University, passed the Massachusetts Bar, and volunteered for the Boston Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project.
He is survived by a son, Lincoln, two grandchildren, and a nephew.
John Gagliardo ’46 ME, PHI KAPPA THETA, Franklin, Mass.
George Carlson ’55 CE, Holden, Mass.
Richard Rader ’55 CH, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Framingham, Mass.
Donald Zwiers ’55 ME, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Joliet, Ill.
George Matarrese ’57 ME, PHI KAPPA THETA, Saint Peter, Minn.
Joel Rappaport ’57 CE, Long Beach, N.Y.
Arthur Shahian ’57 EE, PHI GAMMA DELTA, Newburyport, Mass.
Donald Abraham ’58 EE, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Niantic, Conn.
Joseph Borge ’58 EE, PHI GAMMA DELTA, Franklin, Mass.
Richard Gustafson ’59 EE, ALPHA TAU OMEGA, Rye, N.H.
Chester Jacobson ’59 ME, Northborough, Mass.
Nathan Beale ’60 ME, PHI SIGMA KAPPA, Hopkinton, Mass.
William Kerr ’60 CE, THETA CHI, New Harbor, Maine
Richard Loring ’60 CHE, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Duxbury, Mass.
Richard Souren ’61 ME, Woodstock, Ga.
Carmine Carosella ’62 PHY, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Falls Church, Va.
Arthur Dobreski ’62 EE, THETA CHI, Turlock, Calif.
Carl Stefanik ’62 CE, PHI SIGMA KAPPA, Schoharie, N.Y.
Thomas Lee ’65 EE, THETA CHI, Derwood, Md.
James Braithwaite ’67 CE, PHI GAMMA DELTA, Brigham City, Utah
William Carboni ’67 CE, LAMBDA CHI ALPHA, Newtown, Conn.
Robert Cornell ’67 CHI, Plymouth, Conn.
Francis Dacri ’67 CE, Madison, Tenn.
James Londregan ’67 ME, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON, Waterford, Conn.
Frank Manter ’67 EE, THETA CHI, Greenland, N.H.
Ronald Ochman ’67 CE, THETA CHI, Easton, Conn.
Richard Rubino ’68 MNS, Farmington, Conn.
Stephen Selinger ’69 ME, PHI SIGMA KAPPA, Farmington Hills, Mich.
John Starsiak ’69 CH, Woodbridge, Va.
James Walker ’69 EE, PHI KAPPA THETA, Holden, Mass.
Renald Berard ’70 MNS, Sanford, Maine
George Probert ’70 ME, Clifton Park, N.Y.
Jeffrey Lassey ’71 EE, LAMBDA CHI ALPHA, Worcester, Mass.
Paul Matranga ’71 EE, Spring, Texas
Charles Jutras ’74 CE, ALPHA CHI RHO, Amesbury, Mass.
Charles Innis ’75 ME, PHD, Paxton, Mass.
Hammond Robertson ’75 CHE, Westfield, Mass.
Lewis Smith ’75 SIM, Hopedale, Mass.
James Torrey ’80 CS, THETA CHI, Grafton, Mass.
Robert Gremley ’86 ME, Harvard, Mass.
Karen Anderson ’88 ME, ALPHA GAMMA DELTA, Chelmsford, Mass.
Christopher Leary ’93 EE, Amherst, N.H.
Rebecca Miller ’95 MGT, PHI SIGMA SIGMA, Andover, Mass.
Michael Cyrulik ’96 CE, Randolph, N.J.
John Casill ’01 EE, ALPHA CHI RHO, Springfield, Va.
The WPI community also notes the passing of these friends of the university: Joseph Bagshaw, Lora Brueck, Edward Clarke, and Thomas Kokosinski.
Complete obituaries can usually be found online by searching legacy.com or newspaper websites. The Alumni Office will assist classmates in locating additional information. Contact alumni-office@wpi.edu.
