[In Memoriam] the present tense or the past tense?

sitifan

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Dec 30, 2006
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Prof. Ting-chi Tang, one of the founding members of NTHU Linguistics, has died. He was 89.
Prof. Tang is one of the few pioneering scholars who introduced generative linguistics to Taiwan, after having earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. ...
https://ling.site.nthu.edu.tw/p/406-1400-187636,r5972.php?Lang=en
I. Bernhard Cohen was the Victor S. Thomas Professor of the History of Science, Emeritus at Harvard at the time of his death, June 20, 2003. He was 89 years old. Cohen was one of the pioneering generation who established the study of the history of science in America, and was largely responsible for the development of the Department at Harvard. ...
https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/i-bernard-cohen
Which is correct, the present tense or the past tense?
 

Tarheel

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If the person has died I would use the past tense.
 
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