David Samuel Adorno

David Samuel Adorno, 75, of 100 Blake Road, Hamden, died at the Connecticut Hospice, Branford, CT, on January 12, 2003, after a long illness. He was a retired professor of mathematics and Dean Emeritus of the School of Management at the State University of New York at Binghamton. David Adorno was born in New Britain, CT on June 17, 1927, to the late Rosario Adorno and Mary Carpenter Adorno, both immigrants from Siracusa, Sicily. He was educated in local public schools in New Britain and received a State High School Diploma from the Connecticut State Board of Education, on the basis of equivalency examination, on February 28, 1945. His was the 34th such equivalency diploma awarded in the state of Connecticut. He served in the U.S. military (Army Air Corps and Army) from August, 1945, to August, 1951, at the end of World War II and during the Korean Conflict. After military service, he enrolled at the University of Texas, Austin, where he received a B.A. degree, with honors, in pure mathematics in August, 1953. He earned an M.A. in mathematics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1955 and a Ph.D. in theoretical mathematical statistics from Harvard University in 1963. He joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, in 1963, where the results of his doctoral dissertation led to a fundamental change in the design of satellite tracking systems. He subsequently joined IBM, and worked in IBM research in San Jose, CA and White Plains, NY. His teaching career followed, with an appointment at New York University, NY, NY (associate professor of mathematics), Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY (professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics), California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA (Dean of the School of Business Administration), LeMoyne College, Syracuse, NY (professor and chair of the Department of Business Administration), and the State University of New York at Binghamton from which he retired in 1985. In 1965-66, he held a Fulbright Professorship at the University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. After his retirement, he taught part-time as an adjunct professor in the Department of Mathematics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH and served as a pre-professional law counselor in the College of Literature, Arts, and Sciences, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He frequently served as an expert witness on statistical matters in court cases. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Rolena Klahn Adorno of Hamden; four daughters: Pamela Fitch of Olivenhain, CA, Patricia Madden of Los Angeles, CA, Margaret Miller of Claremont, CA, and Penny Towery of Hamden; and five grandchildren, Cassady Yoder of College Station, TX, Nina and Gillian Fitch of Olivenhain, CA, and Christopher and Emily Towery of Hamden. He is also survived by two brothers, Donald Adorno of New Britain, CT and Joseph Adorno of Chandler, AZ; two sisters, Marie Cassone of Raleigh, NC, and Lois DeFelice-Beaudoin of Berlin, numerous nephews and nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces, the youngest of whom, Erika Magin of Berlin, was born on his birthday in 2002. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 12 noon at BEECHER & BENNETT, 2300 Whitney Ave., Hamden, with burial immediately following at Centerville Cemetery, Washington Ave., Hamden. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Connecticut Hospice Inc., 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT 06405-4906 (www.hospice.com).