Mark Grosenbaugh

Mark Grosenbaugh passed away on July 26 after a long battle with cancer. He was 59 years old.

Mark was a Senior Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he worked for 25 years.  He received a BA and MS from Stanford in 1976 (geophysics) and a PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 1987 (naval architecture).

Mark applied his expertise in hydrodynamics to help develop underwater vehicles and engineer seafloor moorings.  His ‘WHOI Cable’ simulations are used widely to design moorings that support instruments monitoring climate change in the ocean and the movement of endangered right whales.  His work on boundary layers of fish revealed new insights into how the fish optimize their swimming.  He was deeply committed to graduate education in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program.

Mark was passionate about soccer. He coached kids for many years and served on the board of Falmouth Soccer Club.  He learned to play after his sons were born, and participated in the pickup game twice weekly in Woods Hole.  He was an avid cyclist and skier, then redirected his energies to golf as his cancer progressed.

In college Mark rowed stroke in a four with a scrappy group of undersized friends.  Their crowning achievement was winning the national championship in 1975.

Mark leaves his sons Andrew (AJ) and Gus Grosenbaugh, and his wife of 23 years, Lauren Mullineaux; father and stepmother Clare and Donna Grosenbaugh of Grand Rapids, MI; sister Deb Grosenbaugh of Athens, GA, and 3 nieces and a nephew in Colorado.

A memorial service will be held at St. Barnabas Church in Falmouth on Thursday, August 2, at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, Mark wanted to see donations made to the Falmouth Service Center.