Full Text of HR1260 94th General Assembly
HR1260 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR1260 |
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LRB094 20403 HSS 58604 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois learned with sadness of the death of Dr. | 4 |
| Ronald Singer, the Robert R. Bensley Professor of Organismal | 5 |
| Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, on Monday, | 6 |
| April 17, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Singer was born in 1924 in Cape Town, South | 8 |
| Africa; he was educated in South Africa, where he also made his | 9 |
| first major archeological find, the Saldanha skull, dating back | 10 |
| hundreds of thousands of years; as a young man, he loved | 11 |
| playing rugby and was nicknamed "The Rhino"; and
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| WHEREAS, He attended the University of Cape Town, where he | 13 |
| earned a medical degree in 1947, a doctorate in 1962, and met | 14 |
| his wife, Shirley; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, The couple eventually chose to leave South Africa | 16 |
| because they were opposed to apartheid; Dr. Singer had been | 17 |
| called on by the government to testify on race classification | 18 |
| so that descending levels of rights could be assigned to | 19 |
| people, and he refused; his wife was a member of Black Sash, a | 20 |
| group of white women who showed their political protest and | 21 |
| mourning by wearing dark clothes during marches; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, He left South Africa with his family in 1962, when | 23 |
| he became a professor of anatomy and anthropology at the | 24 |
| University of Chicago; three years later, he became chair of | 25 |
| the anatomy department, a post he held until 1977; and
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| WHEREAS, As a professor, he was known to use his wit to | 27 |
| make a dry subject interesting; he also emphasized honesty and | 28 |
| non-compromising integrity; he was humble and down to earth, | 29 |
| and students felt comfortable approaching him; and |
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| WHEREAS, He helped to shift the discipline of anatomy away | 2 |
| from just the memorization of organs, bones, and tendons to a | 3 |
| more dynamic study of the entire organism's biology; the focus | 4 |
| changed to what the anatomical pieces are doing for the human | 5 |
| body; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Singer was also a world-renowned researcher | 7 |
| with more than 140 publications to his credit; in 2001, he | 8 |
| finished the Encyclopedia of Paleontology, a two-volume set | 9 |
| published to critical acclaim; his academic work also included | 10 |
| studies of indigenous African peoples; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, During the Vietnam War, Dr. Singer helped the U.S. | 12 |
| Department of Defense design a bulletproof vest for helicopter | 13 |
| pilots; in the 1970s, the Japanese government wanted his advice | 14 |
| on designing dissection tables; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, He is credited with organizing archeological digs | 16 |
| in South Africa and England that helped fill in gaps in the | 17 |
| understanding of early humans; finds on the digs allowed | 18 |
| researchers to see the changes in human physical appearance and | 19 |
| the changes in human behavior over a very long period of time; | 20 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Dr. Ronald Singer has been deeply | 22 |
| felt by many, especially his wife of 55 years, Shirley Singer; | 23 |
| his sons, Eric Singer and Charles Singer; his daughters, Hazel | 24 |
| Singer and Sonia Nyberg; his brother, Martin Singer; and his | 25 |
| four grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 27 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 28 |
| we mourn the passing of Dr. Ronald Singer, and we extend our | 29 |
| deepest sympathy to his family, friends, and all who knew and | 30 |
| loved him; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our sincerest | 3 |
| condolences.
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