JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa — Update: Campus officials have confirmed the victim of a multi-vehicle accident on Sunday evening near Solon was a University of Iowa professor.
77-year-old Dr. Usha Mallik was a professor emeritus and taught physics at the university. Emeritus status is reserved for retired faculty who served the university for a significant amount of time under honorable circumstances.
Dr. Mallik had previously done research at the world's largest particle physics laboratory CERN, according to the university. In 2020, she received an award from the university for being a mentor to students and other faculty, along with her service to the global "high energy physics" community.
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One person is dead after a four-vehicle crash occurred Sunday evening between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, according to the Iowa State Patrol.
A crash report says the incident happened around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 4, at the intersection of 140th Street NE and Highway 1 — just north of Solon in Johnson County.
Officials said a Jeep Cherokee was traveling west on 140th Street heading towards Highway 1. The driver failed to stop at the stop sign and crashed through the rear of a camper being pulled by a pickup truck heading north on Highway 1. The Jeep then hit the driver's side of a Toyota Rav4 heading south on Highway 1. A fourth vehicle was hit with debris from the camper.
The driver of the Toyota, 77-year-old Usha Mallik, died at the scene, according to the crash report. The driver of the Jeep, a 41-year-old man from Cedar Rapids, was airlifted to a local hospital. Officials said two passengers in that vehicle, a 34-year-old woman and a one-year-old child, were taken by ambulance to Iowa City. A 46-year-old man from Paris, France was also taken to Iowa City. Officials said he was riding in the pickup truck pulling the camper. No injuries were reported for the fourth vehicle.
The crash remains under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol.