Deceased March 23, 2023
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In Memory
We are heartbroken to share that Diana (Donahoe) Steel passed away at home in Poway, Calif., on March 23, 2023. Diana was beautiful on the inside and the outside. Her laugh was infectious. She was fun, loving, smart and adventuresome.
While at Amherst, Diana competed on the soccer team and track team (javelin), sang in the choir and was a member of Chi Psi. She majored in biology and did her thesis with Professor Goldsby. She continued her passion for science at the University of Oxford, earning a Ph.D. in pathology. It was at Oxford that Diana met her first husband, Simon Steel. She did her postdoc research at Harvard and then a fellowship at Trinity College in Dublin.
Diana left basic science research and got a J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2000 and began her career as a patent attorney with a focus on biotech. She worked at Abbott Laboratories (later AbbVie) and Sorrento Therapeutics, and most recently she was the lead counsel for Takeda California. It was through her work that she met her second husband, Peter Dini.
Diana loved to sing and joined a choir wherever she lived. Most recently, she sang with the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus. She also loved to travel and hiked the White Mountains, Grand Canyon and Austrian Alps.
Diana’s most treasured legacy and love were her two children, Conor and Aisling. May Diana live on in us who were fortunate to have been touched by her light, laugh and love.
Kathleen Anne Finnerty-Clarke ’83