List of Famous people who died in 2004

Pierre Francis Koenig was an American architect and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California. He taught at the USC School of Architecture from 1964 until his death in 2004. He was the director of the undergraduate building science program from 1980 to 2004. He lectured widely at other universities, and received more than 20 awards for his work. The architecture of Pierre Koenig was the subject of the book "Pierre Koenig" written by James Steele in 1998. Also in 1998, Koenig was elevated to "Distinguished Professor" after 35 years on the USC faculty. He received the USC Distinguished Alumni Award and the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

John Morin "Jack" Bradbury was an American animator and comic book artist.

Arnold Orville Beckman was an American chemist, inventor, investor, and philanthropist. While a professor at California Institute of Technology, he founded Beckman Instruments based on his 1934 invention of the pH meter, a device for measuring acidity, later considered to have "revolutionized the study of chemistry and biology". He also developed the DU spectrophotometer, "probably the most important instrument ever developed towards the advancement of bioscience". Beckman funded the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, the first silicon transistor company in California, thus giving rise to Silicon Valley. After retirement, he and his wife Mabel (1900–1989) were numbered among the top philanthropists in the United States.

Paul Marlor Sweezy was a Marxist economist, political activist, publisher, and founding editor of the long-running magazine Monthly Review. He is best remembered for his contributions to economic theory as one of the leading Marxian economists of the second half of the 20th century.

Francesco Minerva was an Italian clergyman; at his death he was the second-oldest living bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, after Corrado Bafile. He was also one of its longest-serving priests, having been ordained on 16 April 1927.