The Regents of the University acknowledge with profound sadness the death on November 26, 1993, of Marshall H. Becker, professor of health behavior and health education in the School of Public Health and professor of health behavior, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, in the Medical School.

Professor Becker was born in New York City in 1940. He received his B.S. degree from City University of New York in 1962. He received his M.S. degree in public health in 1964 and his Ph.D. degree in medical sociology in 1968, both from the University of Michigan. He began his teaching and research career at The John Hopkins University in 1969 and joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1977.

Professor Becker's research and writing about compliance with medical regimens and factors influencing preventive and disease management actions placed him in the forefront of health behavior research. He authored or co-authored 120 articles on these subjects. He was editor of the Health Education Quarterly from 1979-86 and served on the editorial boards of six other scholarly journals. He chaired the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education from 1983-87 and served as associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Public Health from 1987-93. Professor Becker was a consummate teacher whose courses consistently attracted hundreds of registrants from throughout the campus. He was frequently honored for his accomplishments: he received the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Society for Public Health Education in 1981, the Mayhew Derryberry Award from the Public Health Education Section of the American Public Health Association in 1982, and the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from the University of Michigan in 1988. In 1987, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences.

Notwithstanding these achievements, Marshall Becker will be remembered as well for his extraordinary wit and humanity. His sense of humor was brilliant, his concern for students unmatched, and his pursuit of academic excellence relentless. In addition to these gifts, the astonishing courage and steadfastness he showed in the face of intractable illness was an inspiration to all who knew him. As we mourn his death, our condolences go to his wife Felicia, son David, and daughter Ruth.