Below the cut is the official obituary for Fr. Andy Whitman SJ, who died this past week. Andy was a part of the Vatican Observatory for many years. His speciality was Lie Algebra – he wrote the book on the topic, which you can download in pdf format here. Andy was a fixture and a character… the type specimen of the “old coot” who always brought a smile wherever he went. Andy spent a lot of time teaching in Brazil before joining us, and he still maintained his work with a remote mission outpost up the Amazon River even as he worked on his math (and did the books for the Observatory in Tucson). He was a man of many talents and enormous grace; we miss him. Father Andrew P. Whitman, S.J. was called to eternal life on January 7, 2015, at Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, LA. He was 88 years old, a Jesuit for 63 years and a priest … Continue reading →