William "Bill" Kamman, 90, Professor Emeritus of history and former associate and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, died Jan. 14. He worked at UNT from 1962 to 2009, serving in the dean’s office for nine years. He also served as chair of the history department from 1977 to 1989 and again before his retirement. His area of interest was U.S. diplomacy and foreign relations. He served in the U.S. Army during and after the Korean War and earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Indiana University in Bloomington and another master’s at Yale. He was a life-time member of the American Historical Association and the Association of American Historians and was the executive secretary for the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations from 1985 to 1989.

He also served on many Denton boards and commissions, including the Denton Zoning and Planning Commission, and was active in the Kiwanis Club for 41 years. He and his wife, Nancy, helped with the development of the Emeritus College, which became the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He was a member of UNT's Chilton Society for his gifts spanning 35 years — most often benefiting The Walter and Mary Prichard Scholarship and The Harry and Ruth Kamman Scholarship. Colleagues remember him as a very kind and positive role model.

G. Roland Vela, 93, of Denton, Professor Emeritus of microbiology whose long career included international recognition and the discovery of a bacterium, died Jan. 26.

Vela joined the microbiology faculty in 1965 and went on to serve as associate dean of science and technology in the College of Arts and Sciences and become the first Latino professor to be awarded tenure at UNT. His research on bacterial physiology and nitrogen-fixing bacteria included discovering a bacterium that was named after him -- Paenibacillus velaei. The bacterium is surrounded by a large capsule and its polysaccharide could be used in the food and pharmaceuticals industries.

He also was a Fulbright lecturer, a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, an industry consultant, an expert witness a textbook author and published history books on Bernardo de Galvez and Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. He wrote 75 scientific papers and lectured around the world. During his 35-year tenure at UNT, he supervised 20 doctoral students and 40 master’s students.

Vela served in the Texas State Guard as a teenager and transferred into the Navy. He earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

In this 2014 North Texan article, alumni from around the world hosted a reunion in his honor to describe the impact he had on their careers – he even allowed one bedridden pregnant student to defend her dissertation at home. In an article for the Denton Record-Chronicle, doctoral students said they also had to give him a picture of themselves – which he then placed on his home’s walls. He also was the first Hispanic member elected to the Denton City Council. He served on the Texas Municipal Power Agency and the Denton Airport Board.

For all of his service, the G. Roland Vela Athletic Soccer Complex at North Lakes Park in Denton was named in his honor. He also was named one of the Outstanding 100 Texas Latinos of the Twentieth Century by Texas Latino Magazine in 2000.

The funeral mass is being livestreamed at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 1.

David W. Hartman, 78, a Professor Emeritus who served as dean for the then-called College of Public Affairs and Community Service, died Dec. 30 in Wichita, Kansas. He worked at UNT from 1992 to 2013, serving as an anthropology professor and associate dean of the School of Community Service -- which under his leadership became the College of Public Affairs and Community Service and is today the College of Health and Public Service. While serving as dean from 1998 to 2006, he instituted new majors, oversaw growth of academic programs, worked to increase research and service collaborations with the community, and established scholarships that expanded diversity. He also helped develop online learning and the first addiction studies minor at a four-year university, and he established international academic programs for sociology and anthropology in Jerusalem, Israel and Mazamitla, Mexico. David received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology from Wichita State University and his doctorate in urban anthropology from Wayne State University, and taught at Wayne State and Virginia Commonwealth University before coming to North Texas. Memorial gifts may be given to the Libertad Hernandez Landa Scholarship that David established at UNT.

Linda Allmand (’61), Fort Worth, who was a dedicated librarian for more than 40 years and taught as an adjunct professor at UNT in the 1990s, died Nov. 21. After earning her bachelor’s degree in library science and history from UNT and a master’s degree from the University of Denver, she worked in libraries in California, Dallas and Fort Worth. As director of the Fort Worth Public Library, she worked out a partnership with the Amon G. Carter Foundation and the city of Fort Worth to automate the library’s holdings – earning the title of the city’s female newsmaker of the year in 1984. She was the president of the Texas Library Association in 1987. At UNT, she was a member of the Chilton Society and established two funds for the College of Information, where she was a Hall of Fame Award recipient.

Paul Jackson Cowan, 93, of Denton, who taught science education at UNT from 1966 to 1987, died Nov. 3.

As a professor and chair of the educational leadership division in the College of Education, Cowan emphasized “learning by doing” instead of textbooks for future science teachers. He received National Science Foundation Funding for his research, which included retraining science teachers and testing new curriculum in area schools. He also directed an annual Energy, Environment and Economics Institute for secondary school teachers.

He previously taught at Hardin-Simmons University, where he had been hired to begin a new program in science education.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and a master’s degree from the University of Utah. In 1964, he completed a doctorate in science education at the University of Texas, the first awarded by the university in that field.

Cellist Eugene Osadchy, 68, a professor of cello at UNT since 1999, died Oct. 3. He was hailed by the New York Times as having "the most refined and balanced string playing" and was called "a paragon of Russian élan" by the Vancouver Sun. He served as a principal cellist with the Plano Symphony, Dallas Chamber Orchestra and Richardson Symphony and regularly performed and gave master classes around the world.

He was born in Kiev to a family of professional musicians and started his own musical education at the age of 5 on the piano and a year later on the cello. After graduating from The Special Music School for Talented and Gifted Children, he continued his education at the Kiev State Conservatory of Music, graduating with honors, and became a Laureate of the Republic of Ukraine Cello Competition.

He also recorded with the award-winning CBC Radio Orchestra, composed film scores, made more than 100 arrangements for various cello ensembles and presented an annual Summer Cello Clinic in Dallas. He and pianist Anastasia Markina won critical acclaim for their CD Russian Romances: Joys and Sorrows in 2010 (Medtner's Insomnia, op. 37, no. 1 from that album) and released a CD of German Lieder, Nacht und Träume, in 2014.

A memorial concert featuring faculty, students, alumni and guest artists is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, in the UNT Music Building's Recital Hall.

Milan Reban, 87, Professor Emeritus of political science who taught comparative and international politics for more than 40 years at UNT and lectured at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, died Sept. 13. Milan was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and fled to Germany in 1949 to escape the Communist takeover and be with his father. Together, they emigrated to Florida, where Milan finished high school and became a U.S. citizen. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami, and continued his education as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Vanderbilt University, where he received his master’s degree, and then at Michigan State University, where he received his doctorate. He joined UNT in 1967 and retired in 2008. Much of his research focused on ethnicity and nationalism in East and Central Europe and the U.S.S.R.

He supported international education, leading countless study trips over the years, and enjoyed live music, discussing politics, and supporting Democratic campaigns and human rights causes. Known for his humor, kindness and fascinating stories, he talked about some of his childhood experiences and how they influenced his life in a 2019 podcast with OLLI at UNT.

Bob Wade, 76, of Austin, a former art professor known for his elaborate and large sculptures, died Dec. 24 in Austin. He worked at North Texas in the 1970s, but his work became so popular that he was able to work on his art full time. Nicknamed “Daddy- O,” he specialized in making some of the world’s biggest objects, such as 40-feet tall cowboy boots at the North Star Mall in San Antonio and a 70-foot saxophone at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art in Houston. He also was featured in the Whitney Biennial in 1969 and 1973. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his master’s at the University of California at Berkeley.

Ray W. Johnson II, 90, of Denton, who oversaw the counseling psychology program when it was accredited in 1978, died Jan. 8 in Denton. He worked at North Texas from 1965 to 1999. He received his bachelor’s degree from Central Missouri State College, and master’s degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Missouri. Memorials may be made to the Ray W. Johnson Counseling Psychology Scholarship Fund.

Rita Huber, 84, of Denton, who served as a secretary in the biochemistry program at UNT for more than 20 years, died Feb. 5 in Denton. She raised her four children while her husband, Charles “Chuck” Huber, was deployed in the U.S. Air Force, then they moved to Denton in 1976 to begin new careers.