Adrian professor taught math

1/17/2007

SOMERSET, Mich. - Cynthia Tremonti Bosio, 53, a professor and former chairman of mathematics at Adrian College, died of cancer Monday in Bixby Medical Center, Adrian.

Her condition was diagnosed in 2001. She went through chemotherapy and was in remission for 32 months, her husband, Donald, said. She took part in the American Cancer Society's annual Relay for Life thereafter.

She was able to teach through spring semester, 2006.

"She was intending to go back," her husband said. "She still enjoyed it and still enjoyed the people she worked with."

Mrs. Bosio in 2005 received the Ross Newsom Award for Outstanding Teaching from Adrian College. She received the Phenomenal Woman Award in 2003 and was recognized in 1997-98 as an excellent instructor.

She taught all levels of mathematics, but a specialty was math anxiety. "She was trained in family counseling and guidance," said Peter Boudreau, a colleague. "She could translate some of the skills of being a good counselor in talking with college students who expressed anxiety difficulties."

"She was able to perceive the difficulty that a student was having in ways not everybody could," Mr. Boudreau said.

She was a former chairman of the department, and she was effective in "any communication she had with students and faculty," Mr. Boudreau said.

She received a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and two master's degrees from Eastern Michigan University.

She began teaching in Wyandotte, Mich., and later taught at Adrian High School. Mrs. Bosio was a member of St. Rita Church in Clarklake, Mich.

Surviving are her husband, David, whom she married June 18, 1977; son, Gregory; daughter, Anne Marie Bosio; sisters, Judy Tremonti, Stella Krupansky, and Lori Tremonti, and brothers, John, Larry, and Tom Tremonti.

The body will be in the Brown-Van Hemert Funeral Home, Addison, Mich., after 2 p.m. tomorrow, with a vigil prayer service at 6 p.m. tomorrow. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Rita Church, Clarklake, Mich., where the body will be after 10 a.m. Friday. The family suggests tributes to Adrian College or the Hospice of Lenawee County.