Editors: A black-and-white 1993 photograph of Ray Krone is available. E-mail Amy Rafferty, aerafferty@ucdavis.edu. Ray Krone, an expert on the design of harbors and a UC Davis professor emeritus who was deeply committed to his students, died Thursday. He was 78. Krone, who had suffered a heart attack in 1979, apparently died of another while he was working on his airplane in a hangar at the Yolo County Airport. "One of the joys in his life was flying," said his son, Ray Krone III. "We worked together on the plane on Sunday; he was very happy." In World War II, Krone piloted a P-38 airplane over Germany in the U.S. Army Air Corps 31st Photoreconnaisance Squadron, his son said. He added that after the 1979 heart attack, his father entered the UC Davis cardiac rehabilitation program and credited that program with extending his life and helping him regain his pilot's medical clearance. Ray Krone earned his Ph.D. in sanitary engineering from UC Berkeley in 1962. He came to UC Davis in 1964 as an associate professor. The next year, he founded the environmental engineering program. He went on to serve as chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and as associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. He retired in 1988. "My father's major focus in life was the university," said his son. "He was committed to education. Even though he was retired, he was still working with students. I found last night that he had messages on his answering machine from students asking him to look over their papers." Among Krone's most important contributions to the campus was his work on expanding the space available in the College of Engineering. For many years, he chaired the committee that oversaw the building of Engineering II. The Ray Krone Conference Room there was named in his honor. "For many of us, Ray epitomized the friendly, caring, people-oriented nature of our department," said the present chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Daniel Chang. "Moreover, he and [UC Davis professor emeritus] Don Brush certainly worked hard to set our program in the right direction toward national prominence, by recruiting and mentoring many wonderful colleagues in the formative years of our department." As a researcher, Ray Krone studied sediment movement by tidal currents and waves within harbors and estuaries. He helped design many harbors and wharves in the San Francisco Bay and delta, and served as a consultant for major harbor projects throughout the country. In 1991, Krone was awarded the Hans Albert Einstein Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his contributions to the knowledge of sediment transport. In 1995, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional distinctions accorded engineers. In 1996, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for "efforts toward advancing science or fostering applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished." Krone's wife of 54 years, Jane, died in 1999. Krone was extremely proud of his two children and six grandchildren. His daughter, Ann, graduated from the UC Davis School of Medicine and is a pediatrician. Ray Krone is survived by his son and his wife, Ray and Tanya Krone of Woodland, and their children, Ray IV and Rory, and by his daughter and her husband, Ann Krone Nelson and David Nelson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and their children, Kristen, Erik, Kurt and Peter. He is also survived by three sisters, Fleda Evans of Mountain View; Betty Asher of Scotts Valley; and Pat Hall of Boise, Idaho. A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. at the Davis Cemetery, 820 Pole Line Road, followed by a memorial service at 2:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Davis, 38141 Russell Blvd. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to a memorial fund to be established through the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Details of the memorial fund are pending.