Former Duke Provost John Walter Strohbehn died Feb. 22 in Hanover, N.H., after a long illness. He was 70 years old.
Strohbehn served as provost at Duke from 1994-1999. During his tenure, the university made significant progress in increasing the number of minority faculty members and minority students and further developed its interdisciplinary strengths. The university also strengthened its appointments, promotions and tenure process and made several significant hires. Just before he left, he began the search process that led to the appointment of Kristina Johnson, the Pratt School of Engineering's first female dean.
While at Duke, he also served as professor of biomedical engineering and civil and environmental engineering. He retired from Duke as professor emeritus in 2003.
"As provost, John Strohbehn cared about the whole university; he reached out to every part of Duke, to understand the concerns of different departments and schools," said former Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane, who was president when Strohbehn become Duke provost. "The appointments he made during his term in office, and the priorities he helped establish, laid the groundwork for later progress at Duke in many ways. He was a thoughtful, sensitive, dedicated senior officer of the university who gave a great deal of time and energy to serving Duke, and we are all in his debt."
A native of San Diego, Strohbehn received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
In 1963, he began his teaching career at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H., as an assistant professor at the Thayer School of Engineering. He was the associate dean of the Thayer School from 1976-1981, and the Sherman Fairchild Professor of Engineering from 1983-1990. He was appointed provost of Dartmouth and served in that role from 1987-1993. In total, he served at Dartmouth for 31 years.
He was a founding fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among others.
As a mark of respect for his dedication to teaching and research in biomedical engineering, Dartmouth Medical School annually awards a medical student the John W. Strohbehn Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research.
Strohbehn's early research in engineering focused on radiophysics, including microwave and laser propagation. He was selected for the National Academy of Sciences' Scientist Exchange Program in Moscow in 1967. His interests later focused on biomedical engineering, medical imaging, and hyperthermia for cancer treatment. He authored more than 100 papers on electromagnetic wave propagation effects and the engineering aspects of hyperthermia.
In 1988, he was co-awarded a patent for a stereotactic operating microscope. He later developed an interest in global warming and spent sabbatical years at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University in 1993, and at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy at Stanford University in 1999.
Strohbehn is survived by his wife, Barbara, of Durham, N.C., and Enfield, N.H., a sister, three children and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Dartmouth in April.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Bryan Alzheimer's Research Center at Duke University, Box 3503 DUMC, Durham NC, 27705; the Alzheimer's Association; or the Scholarship Fund of the Dartmouth Society of Engineers, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, 8000 Cummings Hall, Hanover NH, 03755.