Two veteran professors die

Thomas Steahr, the state demographer and a professor of agricultural and resource economics, died June 22 of a heart attack at his home in Storrs. He was 59.

Steahr did extensive work in the field of demography. In addition to statewide demographic projections and research on fertility and migration, he was involved with the Food Marketing Policy Center researching food quality and food-related illness, particularly in the elderly, through Geographic Information Systems.

Emilio Pagoulatos, head of the agricultural and resource economics department, said of his colleague, "He is going to be missed. He was really the top in the field of demography. ... He definitely represented a unique expertise."

Donations in memory of Steahr may be sent to the UConn Foundation, P.O. Box 552, Storrs, CT 06268.

Claire Berg, a professor of molecular and cell biology who gained international recognition for her work with "jumping genes," died June 29 at her home in Willington. She was 60.

Berg, after extensive research on transposons, or jumping genes, developed a method of using their unusual nature to further scientific research in genetic mapping, or the organization of genes. Berg taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in genetics and was biology director for the Kids are Scientists Too program.

Judith Kelly, professor and head of molecular and cell biology, said, "Claire was a mainstay of our genetics program. She was known both nationally and internationally for her work on mapping and sequencing DNA." Memorial contributions may be made to the Claire M. Berg Fellowship in Genetics, U-131. NAH