Francis H. Clauser, a pioneering aeronautical engineer who served as a vice chancellor at UC Santa Cruz in the 1960s, died on March 3, 2013, at age 99.
Clauser, who came to UCSC from Johns Hopkins University in 1965, served as vice chancellor for academic affairs; he was later named vice chancellor for science and engineering. He was hired by Chancellor Dean McHenry to spearhead the development of an engineering program at UCSC. Clauser also worked closely with Lick Observatory and was involved in the development of the marine sciences program.
After the UC Office of the President decided to postpone the engineering program at UCSC, Clauser left the campus in 1969 to become chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology, where he had earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees. He retired as the Clark Millikan Professor of Engineering at Caltech in 1980.
For more information, see the obituary on the Caltech news site.
