In Memoriam: Biology's Thomas Kane

The department of biological sciences mourns the loss of Professor Thomas C. Kane, who died unexpectedly on June 12. Tom joined the department as an assistant

professor in 1974 and rose through the ranks to become a full professor in 1994.  For the past six years he has served as the assistant department head.

Tom Kane was a wise and rational person, traits he brought to his science, his teaching, and his interactions with colleagues. Any evolutionary biologist can quote Darwin, and many of us are naturalists who love the wilderness, but how many of us can do both, let alone with a high level of excellence? Tom could, and in his quiet way, did so with joy, intelligence and verve. His work on cave organisms with colleagues and students produced a complex but satisfyingly complete study of just how natural selection works. As one review of his book with Dave Culver and Dan Fong says “Culver, Kane, and Fong clearly answer the question: Just how does one go about proving or disproving some aspect of evolutionary theory?”

Tom was also a wonderful teacher, in the classroom, in the field, and one on one. He helped numerous grad students do something he was superb at: looking beyond a narrow system and question, to the larger, theoretical and more complex implications of any scientific study. Finally, he was a splendid colleague. He had a way of getting to the heart of any issue and coming upon with a reasonable solution, always with grace and humor. Respected by the entire department, a rare trait in this day and age, he could bring consensus to a group, when all were sure that none existed. It is hard to overstate how much his friends, his students and the department will miss his voice.

A memorial service was held for Tom on Saturday, June 19, at 10:30 am, at the Cincinnati Nature Center in the Rowe Interpretative Building. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to a research endowment being established in his name or a memorial at the Nature Center.  Contact the department of biological sciences, 513-556-9700, for further details.