George Diehr ’63

Friend

We met on our first day at HMC and discovered we were roommates. We were immediately friends—a friendship that would grow and last for 65 years. We had a lot in common…loved cars and shared “engineer” DNA.
Post HMC we both spent a year in the “real world” then returned to the academy. Mike’s PhD was from UCB; mine from UCLA. We both wrote dissertations on data aggregation: Mike’s on multi-dimensional density estimation; mine on algorithms for clustering. Our thesis committees even had a common member; my chair was his external member. Visiting at Berkeley we joined a Vietnam war demonstration and were chased by the Oakland police.
Mike joined IBM; I a faculty position at University of Washington. The parallels continued. A key area of Mike’s research was in database management. I published several papers and a textbook on DBMS.
Throughout the years we remained in close touch even with his many moves: New York, DC, IBM San Jose, IBM Rochester, Bay Area (with winery visits), and San Diego.
It is difficult to overstate Mike’s intelligence, knowledge, professional accomplishments and contributions as heralded in these Memories. But there were many dimensions to him. We shared a mischievous side (see Sontag) and “differences” with authority (especially HMC student governance). We also loved saving a few shekels, driving 5 miles for 5-cent cheaper gas.
On the social side there was room for improvement. When he arrived at Mudd he proved rather naïve when it came to women. Over the years he grew with Sharon as his mentor and guide. She revealed that he sometimes “made up facts.” But unlike today’s “alternative truths,” with contrary evidence, he changed his mind. Mike far preferred being right. At our shared 80th birthday celebration we received matching T-shirts: “I’m not arguing, I’m explaining why I’m right.”
I miss Mike terribly.

Michael Wilson ’63

Friend

I met Michael in 1959 our first year at Mudd. It rapidly became clear that he was smart, probably the smartest person I have ever known, in the sense that he could immediately go the essence of a problem and devise novel solutions. We were like brothers. We were both only children raised by a single mother. We both married Scripps girls from the same dorm in 1965. We were both engineers. Indeed, Rick Sontag said we were like twins. Even though our work took us to different parts of the country and the world, we never lost touch. Our friendship survived sixty-five years.

Michael was not one to be sentential. He did not dwell on success or setback, but the passing of Sharon was a blow from which he never completely recovered.

Only a year ago he moved from California to Virginia to be near his daughter and grandson. He came out to California to see me in November, I regret I did not spend more time with him. I spoke with him the day before his Cardioversion. He was with his son and daughter. He was full of life, making plans. It should have been a fairly routine procedure, but at our age nothing is routine.

He was my oldest and closest friend; his passing leaves a hole in my heart.

Michael Wilson ‘63

Autumn Preskill ’09

Fellow Trustee and Friend

Michael was always one of my favorite people to talk to at board meetings–he had such interesting stories, and he was always so curious about new things he didn’t know. He was also so kind. At the first Saddlerock I attended I brought my oldest child, who was just under one year old at the time. One year olds don’t care about time zones, so I’d been up for a few hours and was running out of things to entertain my son with when we ran into Michael early one morning. Michael was delighted to see us, and happily played with my son and an empty coffee cup he repurposed into a top and then a light lesson on gravity as it spun off the table. Every Saddlerock after that when I saw Michael he would remind me of that moment and say how it had made his day. It had made mine and my son’s as well–Michael’s joy, curiosity, and kindness were on full display, and I never saw those waver during the time I knew him on the board. I will miss him greatly, and it was a privilege to have known him.

Jonathan Mersel ’75

Friend

Michael Blasgen was many things. He was smart, witty, sarcastic, and irreverent. Michael was also very devoted to Harvey Mudd College – its mission, its alumni, its students, and faculty. As a trustee, he continued to insure that Harvey Mudd College thrived while continuing to be the college that helped shaped him. It was always wonderful to be with him. Michael will be sorely missed.

Karen Angemi

HMC Staff

Working with Michael was both an honor and a joy. He had an incredible way of making every conversation thought-provoking, insightful, and even a little fun. His passion for HMC was evident in every decision he helped shape, always balancing deep historical knowledge with a keen eye for the future. Michael and Sharon were kind and generous. His presence will be missed, but his legacy will continue to inspire.

Dick Hoch ’63

Friend

As the years went by and we all suffered the vagaries of age, Michael seemed to maintain a youthful exuberance, embracing change and new ideas. He always welcomed a good argument and,as many learned , he was wicked smart.
A bright light went out when we lost him and our lives will now be a little duller.

David Baylor

Colleague and Friend

I served as a Trustee with Michael for over 15 years. He was a wonderful friend and mentor to me (a non alumni) on all things Mudd, and myriad other subjects. We served on several committees together and he was always thoughtful, insightful, respectful and caring in doing our work. I’ll miss our lively conversations and Michael’s good humor. My wife and I will miss the time we spent with Michael and Sharon over the years and Harvey Mudd College will surely miss his presence.

Laurie Girand

Friend

Mike was the Chair of the PPCPC Committee when I first joined the Board of Trustees in 2016. At this point, he was amongst if not the oldest trustees, and he could always be replied upon for the history of what came before and a keen perspective of the board’s transactions. My happiest memory, though, is of our playing pickleball together, both amateurs, at SmokeTree Ranch during a Saddlerock Retreat, shortly after his wife passed. Twenty years of age between us, and we had a great time rallying. I will miss him very much.

Joe Connolly

Fellow Trustee

I joined the Harvey Mudd Board in 2013, and from the beginning Mike was my friend and mentor. He was wise, funny, and always eager to engage in spirited discussions about any issue related to the college. I sometimes thought the first person who could understand Mike was the smartest one in the room was the second-smartest one in the room. I treasured our friendship and I’ll miss him terribly.

Bruce Worster ’64

Friend

Michael and I first met in 1960 when I entered HMC, and he was beginning his sophomore year. We were members of the third and fourth classes to enter, so that was the first year the school had four full classes. While we had occasional conversations, he and I were not socially connected as undergraduates. After he graduated in 1963, Michael (then in a MSEE program at Cal Tech) would occasionally stay in West Dorm on the weekend to visit Sharon, who was a senior at Scripps. After I graduated in 1964, we had no contact for many years as our careers took us on different trajectories. Michael went on to get his PhD at UC Berkeley and a distinguished career at IBM.

We reconnected years later when we found ourselves both living in Silicon Valley and were members of AABOG. His enthusiasm and humor were infectious. Michael and Sharon and Susan and I became fast friends and spent many hours together on all sorts of adventures. They introduced us to photography collection, we shared season tickets to the local opera, traveled to South Africa, Spain, France, England, Germany and many venues across the country. I helped bring Michael onto the HMC Board of Trustees, where he served until very recently. The loss of Sharon was a blow, but Michael bravely kept going. At least weekly Michael would communicate by text, email or phone on an amazing variety of topics, stimulating conversation and debate. A few days ago, our friend and emeritus Trustee Dick Hoch ’63 wrote a beautiful and succinct passage defining who Michael was and how we all related to him:

“Our world will be a little duller without that bright light. He never grew old, and his curiosity never waned. I will miss losing arguments.” Amen!