Obituary of Mark Gurevitch

Gurevitch received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley before teaching at the University of Idaho at Moscow. He moved to Portland State in 1958 and retired twice from the department. His first retirement in the 1980s, was brought about by the University’s finanicial crisis. Gurevitch came back to serve as a part time department chair until his second retirement in 1991.

Gurevitch’s research included papers on sub-micron metal particles in iron and on the principles, development and use of high altitude precipitation gauges.

Gurevitch was a strong advocate for biophysics in the department, and proposed in the late 1960s a doctorate program in the field. This eventually led to the hiring of Kwan Hsu as the first biophysics professor at Portland State University.

Gurevitch was also instrumental in the creation of the first endowed chair in physics in the state of Oregon. The position is named after Gertrude Rempfert.