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In Memoriam : A. Lawrence Peirson III |
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Shelley DawickiMarch 14, 2006
Bell House MS #54
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Media Relations Office
(508) 289-3340
media@whoi.edu
Shelley DawickiMarch 17, 2006
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow
the death March 13, 2006 of A. Lawrence Peirson III at his home in
Woods Hole after a long illness. He was 73.
Abel Lawrence “Jake” Peirson III was born March 28, 1932 in Orange, NJ,
grew up in Concord, MA, and attended the Holderness School in Plymouth,
NH, graduating in 1950. He pursued geology at Colby College,
earning a B.A. degree in 1954, then headed west and received an M.S.
degree in petroleum geology in 1956 from Stanford University.
Eager for practical experience, Jake worked as a regional geologist for
Creole Petroleum of Venezuela between 1956 and 1965, returning with
wife Anna Maria to New England to earn an M.B.A. degree from Boston
University in 1967. While in business school he worked briefly
for Parker, Eldridge and Sholl, Management Consultants, in Waltham, MA,
conducting market research and personnel searches.
His long affiliation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
began in 1967 when he accepted a position as special assistant to Fred
Mangelsdorf, assistant director for development and information. Jake
was the key staff person for the various WHOI committees in 1967 and
1968 involved in the formation of the MIT/WHOI Joint Program. He soon
moved to the Education Office, working first with Acting Dean Kenneth
O. Emery and then Dean H. Burr Steinbach to establish a strong
foundation for the Institution’s graduate education activities,
especially the MIT/WHOI Joint Program. From the outset, Jake’s
contributions were immense. He functioned as registrar, dean of
students, executive secretary to various committees for the joint
program, coordinated Education Office functions with the rest of the
Institution, and acted as office manager and general fiscal manager of
education programs. He was promoted to Assistant Dean and Registrar in
1976, and in 1989 he was promoted to Associate Dean. Through the years
he worked with Deans Bob Morse (1973 -1979), Charley Hollister (1979
-1989), Craig Dorman (Acting Dean 1989-1990), and most recently with
John Farrington from 1990 until Jake retired in 1996.
Charley Hollister noted the sentiments of many in the early 1980s that
“the educational effort at WHOI has become nationally and
internationally recognized. It has succeeded largely because of one
person’s total commitment since its inception: Jake Peirson’s.
Jake has been the single person that cared most about what happens.
Hardworking, reliable, loyal, consistent, warm and honest are words
that describe Jake. He has been the corporate memory for 20 years, the
man behind the scenes, the person everyone turns to for the right
answer from medical benefits for students, summer rent assistance to
tuition exchange with MIT. ...He cares for the high school aspirant, the
college student and entering grads, and his humanness is respected
amongst all educators in our field.” John Farrington, Dean from
1990 to 2005, remembers being welcomed by Jake as a postdoc on July
1971. “Charley Hollister’s comments capture the essence of what Jake
meant to WHOI’s education programs, students and postdocs.”
Jake’s door was always open, and he spent countless hours
discussing courses or life in general with students. He was a friend
and mentor, providing encouragement, advice and support. He and wife
Anna Maria opened their home to many through the years, and Jake
enjoyed keeping in touch through alumni/ae events at AGU or other
science meetings, commencement ceremonies at WHOI or MIT, and less
formal gatherings and personal contacts.
Through his years at WHOI he was involved in a diverse set of programs
and activities in addition to the Joint Program, from the ocean
sciences deans retreats and postdoctoral, summer student fellowship and
geophysical fluid dynamics programs to local and regional K-12
activities, the Woods Hole Science and Technology Education
Partnership, and the Falmouth Public Schools Science Fair. He scheduled
and oversaw ONR-funded college faculty workshops, played a major role
in the early days of the JASON Project when 20,000 students and others
visited WHOI for live broadcasts each year, had responsibilities for
the UMASS Lowell Employee Education Program, and served on the
Employees Capital Campaign Committee in the 1990s. In 1995 Jake was
presented with the Institution’s Vetlesen Award, given to an employee
for “exceptional contributions not merely above and beyond superb
performance of their jobs and service on committees, but for true
selfless dedication of a major portion of themselves to the entire WHOI
community over a long period of time.”
Outside of WHOI Jake was a strong supporter of Falmouth Academy.
He served as a trustee from 1982 to 1991, overseeing dynamic growth of
the school and leading the board in a successful campaign to raise
funds for construction of the school’s permanent campus near Beebe
Woods. He became chairman of the board in 1984, and in 1991 he
retired as chair and was named chairman emeritus. Headmaster Bruce
Buxton noted at the time that “Jake provided the kind of rare and
steady leadership critical to the success of the school as it advanced
through a stressful and uncertain period in its history.” When
Jake retired from the board of trustees in 2004, he was named to the
Falmouth Academy Tower Club, which honors “those individuals whose
vision and extraordinary service to Falmouth Academy have provided the
direction, stability and driving force behind Falmouth Academy’s
continued growth and excellence.” WHOI recognized his many
contributions to K-12 education by naming the Institution’s annual
college scholarship to the first place winner of the Falmouth Academy
science fair, which Jake helped organize, the A. Lawrence Peirson III
Award.
Jake also served as a trustee of the Kelly Foundation, and was a member
of the Falmouth Rotary Club for many years. In his spare time he loved
to play golf, ski and tinker in his workshop. He was a long-time member
of the Woods Hole Golf Club.
Jake retired from the Institution in 1996 but continued to contribute
to education activities, most recently as Executive Director of the
Joint Program Alumni/ae Association, quietly working from an office in
Fenno when his health permitted. Upon Jake’s retirement in 1996,
the association established an endowed fund in his honor, the A.L.
“Jake” Peirson III Student Opportunity Fund at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution.
Survivors include his wife, Anna Maria (Carrano) Peirson of Woods Hole,
MA; three sons, A. Lawrence Peirson IV of London, England, Eric J.
Peirson of Carbondale, CO, and Stefan P. Peirson of Basalt, CO;
six grandchildren; a sister, Helen Bunting Richardson of New
Mexico; and two nephews.
Funeral arrangements were private. A celebration of his life will be
held Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m. on the 5th floor of Clark Laboratory
on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Quissett Campus. In lieu
of flowers, donations in Jake Peirson’s memory may be made to the
American Cancer Society (1115 West Chestnut St., Brockton, MA 02301),
the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc. (1501 N.W. 9th Avenue, Miami,
Florida 33136-1494), Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod (270
Communication Way, Hyannis, MA 02601), and the A.L. “Jake” Peirson III
Student Opportunity Fund at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (c/o
Development Office, WHOI MS #40, Woods Hole, MA 02543).
Last updated: November 19, 2009 |
