In Memoriam

Mark A. Ratner ’69 PhD, Glenview, Ill., May 10, 2026, at age 83. The Lawrence B. Dumas Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Chemistry in Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Ratner was widely recognized as the “father of molecular electronics.” In the 1970s he demonstrated for the first time that individual molecules could carry an electric current, a discovery that laid the groundwork for designing molecular-scale circuits and devices that could power molecular computers and quantum devices. Ratner served on the Northwestern faculty for more than 45 years and taught general chemistry to roughly 5,000 students. He was named to the Associated Student Government’s Faculty Honor Roll 11 times. The Mark and Nancy Ratner Professorship, now held by Emily Weiss ’02 MS, ’05 PhD, honors his dedication to undergraduate learning. Ratner was a driving force behind the creation and growth of Northwestern’s International Institute for Nanotechnology and the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, and he served as the founding co-director of what is now the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. Ratner is survived by his wife, Nancy; children Stacy Ratner ’09 CERT, ’18 MBA and Dan; three brothers, Chuck, Jim and Ron; and two grandchildren.  

Sue Pooler Wagner ’64 MA, Reno, Nev., March 17, 2026, at age 86. A pioneer in Nevada politics, Wagner never lost an election in her 20-year career. After stints as an educator and journalist, she was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1974. Starting in 1980 she spent nearly a decade in the Nevada State Senate, including as chair of the Judiciary Committee. In 1991 she became the first woman in the state to be elected lieutenant governor. A Republican, she often broke party lines on social issues. She backed legislative efforts that supported reproductive rights, funded domestic violence shelters and enacted reforms in the state’s prison system. Wagner was inducted into the Nevada Senate Hall of Fame and the Nevada Women’s Fund Hall of Fame. She considered running for governor but said that injuries she sustained in a 1990 plane crash prevented her from pursuing further political ambitions. Outside of politics, she worked for the Desert Research Institute, where she established an endowment in honor of her late husband, Peter, who had worked at the institute as an atmospheric scientist before he died in a 1980 plane crash. Sue later expanded the endowment’s reach by creating the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences in 1998. She is survived by a son, Kirk; a daughter, Kristina; four grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of DRI  

Ronald B. Joseph ’67, ’70 MD, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Jan. 20, 2026, at age 81. A gifted athlete and skilled surgeon, Joseph attended Northwestern on a track and field scholarship and placed third in the long jump at the 1964 Big Ten Championships. He and his sister, Vivian, were also competitive figure skaters; they won a bronze medal in pairs figure skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Joseph then studied medicine at Northwestern and the Mayo Clinic to become an orthopedic surgeon, focusing on surgery of the shoulder, hand and wrist. He pioneered arthroscopic shoulder repair. Joseph is survived by his wife, Krista; a daughter, Ali; a son, Jeremy; and stepchildren Adele and Billy. His stepson Charlie died in 2016. 

Photo Credit: US Figure Skating 

Elbert Kimbrough ’62, Eldridge, Iowa, Jan. 2, 2026, at age 87. Kimbrough and his identical twin, Albert Kimbrough ’62, were high school football stars in Galesburg, Ill., before coming to Northwestern. Elbert earned All–Big Ten and All-American accolades as a standout wide receiver for coach Ara Parseghian’s Wildcats. He then played for seven seasons in the NFL, six of those as a starting safety for the San Francisco 49ers. After his football career, Kimbrough worked as a businessman, insurance agent and entrepreneur. In retirement he took up substitute teaching. He was married to his childhood sweetheart, Sherri Lynn Jackson, and they spent 50 years together before she died in 2009. His twin brother died in 2024. Kimbrough is survived by his children, Brant, Dee Dee, Channing, Whitney and Amber; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; his sister, Patricia; and many nieces and nephews. 

Susan Stoner Jones ’63, Naples, Fla., Oct. 15, 2025, at age 84. Generous gifts from Susan and her husband, University Trustee Dan Jones ’61, over many years have benefited Northwestern Libraries, Athletics and Recreation, and other areas across the University. Susan graduated from Northwestern in 1963 with a degree in art history and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She then moved to New York to pursue a degree in nursing at Columbia University, where she met Dan. Susan completed her nursing degree in 1966 and worked as a nurse before leaving the field to raise three children and assist with the family’s newspaper archiving business, NewsBank. In the first few months, Susan worked in the couple’s bedroom, creating microfiche masters to preserve newspaper articles, and ultimately transforming the company into a leading provider of digitized newspaper articles that provides online archives of thousands of newspapers, broadcast transcripts and other publications. The Joneses’ two daughters, Kathryn “Katie” Cavanagh ’91 and Meredith “Maggie” Jones, are both NewsBank executives. Their son, Daniel, served as president of NewsBank’s consumer division before his passing in January 2024. The Joneses have been devoted Northwestern Wildcats fans for decades, supporting the University’s student-athletes through the Otto Graham Society. The couple established the Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach endowment in 2006 and gifted more than $32 million in databases to Northwestern’s library system. They also served as co-chairs of the Florida Regional Campaign Committee, Gift Planning Campaign Committee and Libraries Campaign Committee for We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern. Susan was a longtime leader of the NU Club of Greater Naples and a member of the Women’s Board of Northwestern University and served on her 45th, 50th and 55th Reunion Committees. She is survived by her husband, her daughters and eight grandchildren.

Read the full obituary for Susan Stoner Jones.

Harry J. Pearce ’67 JD, ’98 H, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Oct. 14, 2025, at age 83. After serving in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps, Pearce joined his father’s law firm, where he handled product liability cases for large automakers. In the mid-1980s he joined General Motors (GM) as associate general counsel. He won a defamation lawsuit against NBC in 1993, during which he proved that NBC’s Dateline had rigged a crash test of a GM pickup truck, causing its fuel tank to erupt in flames. His demonstration helped catapult him to vice chairman of GM in 1996. He helped launch one of the first modern electric vehicles and led the development of the OnStar Automatic Crash Response system. After a leukemia diagnosis in 1998, he retired from GM in 2001. A stem cell transplant from his brother, William Pearce ’62, ’64 MS, ’67 PhD, ’71 JD, saved Harry’s life. A member of Northwestern’s Board of Trustees since 2000, Harry received an Alumni Merit Award in 1991. His wife died in 2006 and his brother in 2021. He is survived by his longtime companion, Susan Kilbride; children Shannon, Susan and Harry Mark Pearce ’99 MS; eight grandchildren, including George Baker ’16; and a great-granddaughter. 

Thomas Z. Hayward Jr. ’62, ’65 JD, Naples, Fla., July 24, 2025, at age 85. A life trustee, Hayward was president of the Northwestern Alumni Association from 1976 to 1980 and chaired or co-chaired numerous Reunion committees for the class of 1962. He was vice chair of the Northwestern Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2009 and chair of its Alumni Relations and Development Committee from 2000 to 2010. From 1998 to 2003 Hayward co-chaired Campaign Northwestern, which raised over $1.5 billion, and he later served as co-chair of several committees for We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern, the largest fundraising initiative in University history. Hayward was honored with an Alumni Service Award in 1974 and a Northwestern Alumni Medal, the highest distinction awarded to alumni, in 2012. An expert in land-use and general corporate law, Hayward retired from K&L Gates in 2013 after working at numerous Chicago law firms. He is survived by his wife, Sally Madden Hayward ’61; sons Thomas Hayward III ’89, ’93 MBA, MD, Wallace Hayward ’90 and University Trustee Robert Hayward ’94, ’97 JD; 10 grandchildren; and several other relatives.