Richard Haskell

Colleague

I too recall vividly Bob on the road recruiting clinic projects. When Bob spoke, potential sponsors listened. He spoke thoughtfully, confidently, and from experience. And CS clinic projects were in hot demand – he enjoyed it and so did we (the co-traveling clinic directors). When he needed to relax, there was jazz, but he was also a film aficionado. I spotted him on numerous occasions slipping from one theatre to another at the Laemmle on weekends. I will miss him dearly, and I will always remember him.

Eric Heitzman '02

Student

Hi Noel,

At HMC, Bob was the master of “functional programming.” Functional programming is a misleading name that could lead you to believe that it is straightforward, perfunctory, or mechanical, but in fact quite the opposite is true. As Bob taught it, it was very close to abstract math, heavy on recursion, and in my opinion as close to improvisational jazz as I’ve ever seen any computer science language. I didn’t know Bob was passionate about music at the time, but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense.
It’s been ages since I’ve taken one of his classes but I think of him often. He was a special man and an influential figure on hundreds or thousands of us students.

David Harris

Colleague

Bob was my mentor and colleague for many years. I especially enjoyed traveling with him as a Clinic Director. We had many interesting conversations about computing and education. His devotion to HMC students was inspiring.

Susan Martonosi

Colleague

I had the opportunity to serve as math clinic director while Bob was directing CS clinic. I enjoyed traveling with him and the other directors on recruiting trips and learned a lot from his mentorship. We talked a lot about music and had always planned to get together sometime to play piano duets; sadly we never had the chance. I always appreciated Bob’s directness during faculty discussions. I am thankful for the opportunity to have been his colleague.

Abby '18

Student

Prof Keller’s dry humor was always a fun treat at late night grading sessions. He seemed to have night-owl tendencies that astounded me. Prof Keller was an incredible teacher that I’m so grateful to have been taught by and worked with. I will never forget the incredible music he shared with us throughout my time at Mudd.