Victor S. Pastena, 52, professor, chair of Department of Accounting and Law

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 2 in the Newman Center chapel on Frontier Road for Victor S. Pastena, 52, Clifford C. Furnas Professor of Accounting and chair of the Department of Accounting and Law in the School of Management. Pastena died unexpectedly July 20 in Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City while awaiting a liver transplant.

Pastena began his career at UB in 1990 after serving nine years as professor of accounting at Baruch College in New York City, where he received the college's Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence. He taught at the undergraduate, MBA and doctoral levels at the School of Management and also taught in the school's executive programs in China, Singapore and Hungary.

In 1993, he served as chair of the subcommittee that established the school's Executive MBA program and he was a member of the full-time MBA program's Taskforce 2000 subcommittee.

Pastena was instrumental in establishing the school's Accounting and Law Fund to support departmental activities and he was founding editor of the department's alumni newsletter. His research specialties included the accounting and auditing releases of the Securities and Exchange Commission, oil and gas accounting, financial contracting, bond refinancing and mergers. He was published in the top journals of the field, including the Journal of Accounting Research and Journal of Accounting and Economics, and was on the editorial board of the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy and the Journal of Quality Science at the time of his death.

A certified public accountant, he was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Accounting Association and the American Finance Association.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the University at Buffalo Foundation/Victor Pastena Memorial Fund or the American Liver Foundation.

Ed Muto, 70, athletic director who brought varsity football back to UB

Memorial Masses were offered July 28 in St. Lucie Catholic Church in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Aug. 3 in St. Benedict's Catholic Church, Eggertsville, for Edwin (Ed) Muto, 70, a member of UB's athletic staff for 40 years. Muto, who had served as athletic director and basketball coach, died unexpectedly July 25 in Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Fort Pierce, Fla.

Athletic director for 11 years, Muto was head basketball coach for three years and assistant basketball coach for 14 years. He retired in 1991 and moved to Port St. Lucie in 1993. As athletic director from 1976-87, he is credited with returning varsity football to the university in 1977. Under Muto, the UB wrestling team won its first NCAA Division III championship. He also was instrumental in expanding the women's intercollegiate athletic program.

Nelson Townsend, who succeeded Muto as athletic director in 1987 and now associate vice president for student affairs, lauded Muto as an adviser and friend, a "consummate professional...one of the university's favorite sons."

Muto, who was a student-athlete at UB from 1946-50, played varsity basketball and golf. In 1950, he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and in 1951, received a master's degree while coaching UB freshman basketball.

During the Korean War, he was a sharpshooter in the Marine Corps, leaving the military in 1954 with the rank of sergeant to return to coaching at UB.

Muto also served as chair of men's physical education and was an associate professor in the Division of Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics. Active in athletics on a national and regional level, he was at-large vice president for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) 22-member council and the council's Division III steering committee. He also held several positions with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, receiving the conference's Distinguished Achievement Award in 1992.

Edmund Klein, 77, skin cancer pioneer, research professor of dermatology

A memorial service was held July 27 in the Williamsville Cemetery for Edmund Klein, 77, research professor of dermatology and experimental pathology in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and a pioneer in skin-cancer research who had served as chief of dermatology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Klein died July 24 from complications of diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Klein recognized early a need for nonsurgical therapies of skin cancer arising from long exposure to sunlight and was recognized for his work in applying drugs directly to cancers and precancerous lesions. He also advanced the use of immunotherapy in which the body's own defenses are used to fend off tumors. This involved the application of agents to stimulate the immune system and pointed the way toward the use of interferon and interleukins in current cancer therapy.

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation honored Klein in 1972 with a clinical research award for developing a treatment for superficial cancers with a topical ointment containing potent anticancer chemicals.

Niels Juul, 70, associate professor emeritus, mechanical engineering

Niels H. Juul, 70, associate professor emeritus of mechanical and aerospace engineering, died June 23 during a visit to Denmark. He retired from UB in 1995.

The author of numerous scholarly publications, Juul held research interests in the areas of mechanical and thermal properties of carbons as a function of material, manufacturing processes and heat treatment, view factors for radiation heat transfer, combustion characteristics of pulverized coal, energy-conversion systems, performance of bypass turbojet engines, and design and performance of propeller-type wind turbines.

A native of Singapore, Juul received a master's degree in mechanical engineering and the degree of doctor technics from The Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen.

After service in the Royal Danish Air Force from 1954-56, during which he attained the rank of lieutenant in the armament research section, he came to UB in 1957 as an instructor in mechanical engineering. He became an associate professor in 1964, serving as vice chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1968-70 and as associate chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from 1983-92. He was acting chair of the department in 1984 and 1985.

Juul was a member of the Society of Sigma Xi, the American Society for Engineering Education; the Danish Institution of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Engineers, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.