Edwin Lynch
Kenneth Kovach
in memoriam
University Friend Edwin Lynch Passes Away
Edwin W. Lynch, 91, farmer, retired real estate developer, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and a 1995 recipient of the university's highest honor, the George Mason Medal, died on March 17. Through public service, advocacy, and generous private support, Lynch left a lasting mark on the university, most particularly through the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR).
Lynch was part of the George Mason community for more than 50 years. He was a chair and member of the ICAR Advisory Board and a trustee of the George Mason University Foundation. In 1988, his influence played a major role in helping to establish ICAR's doctoral program—the first of its kind in the world. His legacy includes a $6.7 million donation of property and funds that he and his wife, Helen, made in 2000 to support the work of ICAR and create an international retreat and conference center at Mason Neck. Other gifts include faculty and student support endowments for ICAR.
Among Lynch's survivors are his wife and four children, including alumna Sandra Etka Shopes, BA Psychology '73.
Professor Kenneth Kovach Dies
By Amanda Adolph, MPA '00
Kenneth Kovach, professor of management in the School of Management, died on January 16, at the age of 57. Kovach, who came to George Mason in 1976, served in key leadership roles, including the area coordinator for management.
Kovach, a familiar face to students and the community, taught two televised courses in human resource management and industrial relations on GMU-TV. Over the years, Kovach received numerous awards for teaching, including the George Mason University Alumni Association's Faculty Member of the Year Award, George Mason's Distinguished Faculty Member and Teaching Excellence Awards, and the Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions from Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.
“Dr. Kovach was able to engage his students with humor, personal life stories, his expertise, and his special brand of humanity. His legend loomed large when I chose his class. I have counted him as one of those professors I fondly remember and who I enthusiastically have recommended to others,” says Stacey Remick-Simkins, BA English '88.
Kovach's scholarship addressed a host of issues in labor relations and human resource management. His most recent work included articles on genetic testing in the workplace, baseball labor relations, employee privacy, and human resource information systems. He published eight books, including Strategic Labor Relationsand Strategic Human Resource Management. Kovach was an active consultant in the areas of human resource management and industrial relations to regional and national firms, with clients ranging from the National Hockey League Players Association to Goodwill Industries.
Adjunct English Faculty and Alumnus Mark Craver Dies
Mark Craver, MA English '83, MFA Creative Writing '84, and adjunct English faculty member at George Mason since 1985, died of an apparent heart attack in February. He was 47.
Craver was the author of several books of poetry, including The Problem of Grace, Seven Crowns for the White Lady of the Other World and Blood Poems, and They Come for What You Love. He also taught for many years at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Virginia, and Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia. In the 1990s, he served as president of the Creative Writing Alumni Chapter.
“He liked to laugh. You could laugh graciously, whole-heartedly with him,” says Roger Lathbury, professor of English and owner of Orchises Press, which published two of Craver's books. “He was very talented, and this showed in the books he wrote.”