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Lewis & Clark Professor Killed In Highway 26 Crash

Two of the three people killed in a crash on U.S. Highway 26 Monday evening had a connection to Lewis & Clark College.

Lewis & Clark physics professor Shannon O’Leary was killed in a crash near the Warm Springs Indian Reservation Monday afternoon. Her husband Adam Clausen was also killed in the incident. Clausen was a physics professor before he became a technology consultant and also spent time teaching at Lewis & Clark. Dean of the College of Arts Sciences at Lewis & Clark Catherine Gunther Kodat said O'Leary served as a mentor as well as a professor.

"Shannon was a particularly remarkable and effective mentor and guide for young women scientists and she had a wonderful sense of humor," she said. "She was very level-headed and even-keeled, relaxed, just a pleasure to work with."

O’Leary and Clausen’s four-year-old son, Felix, survived the crash. Robert Burke of Reno, Nevada, was also killed. His passengers, Rachel Burke and the couple's 22-month-old son, survived, but Rachel Burke suffered serious injuries. Both were taken to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

Copyright 2016 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Julie Sabatier