Peter Grippe, a long standing Professor of Fine Arts from 1953 to 1980 and renowned sculptor, died on Oct. 18, at the age of 90. After the early death of Prof. Irving Fine in 1962, chairman of the School of Creative Arts, Grippe sculpted a bronze bust of Fine to be displayed in the lobby of the Slosberg Music Center in Fine's memory. Grippe studied at the Albright-Knox Art School and the Art Institute of Buffalo. He helped found the American Abstract Artists Organization in 1936, working with new forms of abstract images, futurism and surrealism. He also utilized special techniques in cubism, displaying patterns correlating with the jazz rhythms.

Professor Gerald Berstein (FA) remembers crossing paths with Grippe while he was at the University.

"He was very popular with the students," Berstein said. "Grippe was commended by the students who voted him as an outstanding teacher. He was an artist, not necessarily an academic artist, but one with a lot of love and excitement. He was a beloved teacher in the best sense of that word."

Grippe's work is in the collections of the museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.