Herman R. Gaumer ’64

Herman R. Gaumer ’64 died in New Orleans on July 9, 2012. “Dick” came to Dartmouth from Wilmington (Delaware) Friends School, where he participated on the baseball, football and tennis teams and the glee club and was class president. He was imbued with a strong sense of peace and justice acquired from the Quaker tradition of his high school. At Dartmouth Dick majored in biology and continued his musical interest with the Glee Club. He was a member of the rugby club and a brother at Theta Delta Chi. After graduation he attended the University of Delaware, where he earned a master’s in marine biology. Subsequently he attended the University of North Carolina, where he earned a Ph.D. in bacteriology. He did postdoctoral studies at the University of Colorado, followed by a research position at the University of Minnesota. He had a long academic career at Tulane University and later Louisiana State University Medical School, where he was professor in the pathology department. The focus of his career was investigations into HIV-AIDS. Beyond his career he chaired the HIV-AIDS commission in the Episcopal diocese of Louisiana. Dick sang in Episcopal church choirs in Minnesota and New Orleans. He was involved with restoration of medical services in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He was known for his dry wit and daily bike riding on the Mississippi River levee. He is survived by his wife, Susan (Mount Holyoke ’64), children Catherine and Matthew and a granddaughter.