January 13, 1962 – January 12, 2020 - Lisa M Zurk left us all suddenly on January 12, 2022, while achieving just about everything. Lisa grew up in Needham, MA with her loving parents Dan and Romayne and brother, Steven. Lisa was into STEM studies way before it was even cool. After completing her B.S. at UMass and Masters at Northeastern, she headed West to Oregon with her husband Michel Pinton, camping the whole way out, reflecting on the beauty of America.
Lisa was awarded her Ph.D. at UW in 1995 and they returned to New England for a decade while Lisa worked interesting things at MIT Lincoln Labs. From the outskirts of Boston they enjoyed family, cooking and hosting, gardening, travelling the world, and a lot of soccer. The beauty of the Northwest once again called, and Lisa accepted a professorship at Portland State University in 2005. There she founded the NEAR lab, specializing in advancements in sensing and acoustic sciences that spawned a generation of brilliant scientists.
Over these decades Lisa published over 50 highly technical papers and was awarded numerous and impossible awards including a Fulbright Scholar year in Finland, the President’s Early Career Award for Scientists (where Lisa reflected on how interesting the President’s dog was), and ASA and National Science Foundation awards. Lisa and Michel loved the vibe, food, drink and people of the Portland area and built a house that marvels those in architectural magazines. The gardens were exquisite and each plant significant and vibrant. Their home was adorned with diverse and interesting artifacts from their world travels, and yet still simple notes of garlic, shitaki, rosemary and even hops sifted from the kitchen where Lisa and Michel would entertain fortunate guests. It was a good life filled with senses and a gift for anyone who would spend time with them.
Shortly after the devastating passing of her husband, Michel, in 2014, Lisa returned to the D.C. area for a few years to continue her technical leadership at DARPA and ONR, and re-connect with East coast family and friends. Her last professional achievement was to become executive director at UW Applied Physics Lab, the first woman to ever hold that position. Lisa was remarkable in every way and those blessed to know her are, well… blessed.
