FRANCIS MARCHESE

MARCHESE--Francis

Thomas, (called Frank) of New York, NY, died on September 21, 2015. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, to Frank Marchese and Catherine, nee Miller, on May 12, 1949. He attended Brooklyn Preparatory School, NY; earned a B.S. at Niagara University, NY; an M.S. in chemistry at Youngstown State University, OH; and a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry at the University of Cincinnati, OH. Frank joined the nascent computer science department at Pace University, NY, in 1983. He worked, as a professor, in what eventually became the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information systems until his death at home from prostate cancer. Despite the difficulties of his disease and treatments, Frank remained actively teaching, researching and writing. He taught, developed new courses, and directed masters' theses students. His contributions to the university community were numerous. In 2003, Frank, together with his colleague, the artist Jillian McDonald, founded and co-directed the Pace Digital Gallery, a lively venue for digital art and collaboration, housed within the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems in downtown Manhattan. In recent years, he wrote papers on a wide ranging array of subjects including, but not limited to: the chemical table, conservation of digital art using software engineering methods, and medieval information visualization. His final publication in 2015 was as a contributor to and editor of a book titled: Media Art and the Urban Environment. Frank's two brothers, their wives, and niece survive him: John (m. Valerie), their daughter Alison, and Stephen (m. Mary Kuka-Marchese). In 1994, Frank was married to Suzanne, who survives him.