Today it is my sad duty to announce that Gerard Emch passed away on March 5, 2013

Here is the official announcement:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gainesville/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=163577385

Professor Emch had fundamental contributions in the algebraic approach to quantum mechanics and here are two important books he wrote:

Mathematical and Conceptual Foundations of 20th-Century Physics
Algebraic Methods in Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory

Here is his mathematical genealogy entry:

http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=23461

His passing represents a great loss for the mathematical and physics community.