William Ginoza

William Ginoza William Ginoza passed away peacefully in his room at the Umenoki Gardens Senior Home in Union City, Calif., where he spent the last three years of his life. He was 104 years old. Bill, as he was known to his friends, had lived in State College since 1961, when he was invited to be one of the first faculty members of the Penn State University's newly created department of biophysics. He retired from Penn State in 1979, as emeritus professor of microbiology. Before coming to Penn State he had been a research associate at the Atomic Energy Commission and the UCLA school of medicine's radiology department. He received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD from UCLA. His work focused on the study of viruses and their genetic mechanisms. He was born in Los Angeles on February 7, 1914, and grew up in a farming community in Fowler, Calif. His wife of 42 years, Midori, passed away in State College in 1987. He is survived by two children, Lillian and Donn, and two grand-children.