Dr. Sutherland, the father of my closest friend, 

was literally one of the brightest people I've ever met.

Dr. Rodrigue (Rod) M. Sutherland died on June 6, 2002 after a long illness.  Dr. Sutherland earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Providence College in 1949; a master's degree in teaching in 1961 from Brown University, Providence; and a doctorate in biology from Clark University in 1967.

He was professor emiritus of biology at Assumption College where he taught for 31 years and had served as Chairman of the Department of Science and Mathematics.  He was also a research associate in neurology at Clark University for more than 20 years.  Additionally, he had taught at Mount St. Charles Academy and had been a corporate chemist.

Dr. Sutherland's main publications were in the Journal of Comparative Neurology concerning the fine nerve fiber systems in animals using electron microscopy techniques.  He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and delivered a major scientific paper in vertebrate zoology at the association's 1969 convention.  He was also a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers, the New England Society of Electron Micrscopists, the Electron Microscopical Society of America and the American Society of Zoologists.