The Ford School is deeply saddened to share that Irving "Irv" Salmeen — a former lecturer and associate director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program — died on March 9th, 2021 of glioblastoma.
While at the Ford School, Salmeen worked closely with Carl Simon and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on the intersections of science and public policy until 2017. He previously served as a research scientist with the U-M Center for the Study of Complex Systems (2008-2012). Before that Salmeen worked for 36 years in the Ford Motor Company Scientific Research Laboratories, retiring in 2007. At retirement, he headed the lab's systems analytics department, which developed mathematical models for business, manufacturing, and vehicle technologies.
Salmeen's obituary notes, "He loved books as a child and developed a deep sense of curiosity that led him to the University of Michigan where he studied Engineering Math and Engineering Physics. He went on to earn a PhD in Biophysics. While science was Irv's primary passion and occupation, he was also a pianist, an artist and a writer with a deep appreciation for music, art, history and literature."
You can read his obituary here.