Geoff Kuenning

Professor of computer science, Claremont

Although I postdate Joe’s active tenure at HMC, I fondly remember how he stayed engaged with the campus until the very end–not to mention enjoying his always-entertaining guitar playing!  I am glad that he lived to see his labors come to fruition in the college that we have today.

Jeff Groves

Professor of literature and dean of the faculty, HMC

Joe was an inspiration. Supportive, witty, a wise and entertaining conversationalist, a plain-spoken but visionary leader–we will all miss him, but his presence lives on in the institution he helped to create.

I must add that Joe taught me how to knot a bow tie–that was as enjoyable a tutorial as I ever had.

Jerry Van Hecke ’61

Professor of chemistry, HMC

Many will no doubt record with difficulty on these web pages their numerous remembrances of Joe Platt’s influence on their lives. So too, will it be for me.

I have two personal letters from Joe that I treasure that will only partially convey his impact on me. The first letter contained an offer of employment at Harvey Mudd College, an offer I clearly accepted that has made all the difference. The second letter informed me that the trustees had approved my reappointment with continuous tenure. That statement of fact could of course stand by itself but what makes that letter extremely special was Joe’s additional comment that he was honored to be the bearer of the news. That Joe would add such a remark was characteristic of the caring and personal touches he brought to the HMC family in those early days. Those “touches” made us all proud to be part of this special family. In fact I can still hear Joe begin his remarks at the annual opening of college faculty dinners with “It is great to have the family together again.”

From being placed in the admitted to the Founding Class pile on Jean and Joe’s living room so many years ago, to being now a senior faculty member at HMC, it has been quite a journey all made possible by the vision and wisdom of Joseph Bevan Platt.

Victoria Mudd

Daughter of Henry T. Mudd, granddaughter of Harvey Mudd

This is a very sad day indeed, but grief and relief are combined. Your dad was a great and gracious guy who gave generously to all who knew him. What a great spirit he had! He radiated good cheer, curiosity, intellect and even joy whenever I saw him. I marveled. I would have loved to have heard him teach…great heart and great intellect combined…. how magnificent! It always amazes me that when the great souls of this world age, despite severe physical limitations, they are still able to maintain their joy. I guess that’s how we know they were great and blessed beings. I hold the image of his spirit flying free, meeting up with the other great minds and great souls of our world.

The Platt family is woven into the very fabric of my heart.

Malcolm Lewis ’67

Chair, HMC board of trustees

Joe was such a wonderful person and broadly talented leader. His contributions to getting HMC founded and established as a preeminent college are well known and appreciated. But my most immediate memories are of Joe’s sense of humor, his songs and music, his thoughtfulness and kindness. Knowing and working with Joe was an honor and joy. He will be well remembered and greatly missed.

Thomas Helliwell

Professor emeritus, physics department, HMC

I first met Joe in 1957 when I was a college senior, and was recruited by him in 1961 as I was trying to finish my doctorate. Joe was a charming and compelling recruiter; we met outdoors, me in a chair and he sitting on a wall, curling his legs up under him, stoking his pipe and talking about his dreams for a great college. How could I not want to join?

It always seemed to me that Joe and Jean provided half the vision of HMC: The other half was provided by the Mudd family and their friends. Both halves were essential for the ultimate success of the college. They got on well together.

Four aspects of Joe’s personality stand out especially vividly to me, all of them contributing to the legacy of the college even for those who never knew him personally.

The first was integrity. You knew where Joe stood, and he never disappointed. An example: in the early days the faculty endlessly debated what qualities we were looking for in our students. At one point a faculty member suggested that to learn something about them, we tell potential students one thing but actually do something else. Another faculty member said he didn’t think that was smart, because somebody would find out. Joe said in his kind way that it wasn’t only not smart, but it wasn’t right. That settled that.

The second was teamwork. His way was to make everyone, faculty, students, alumni, staff, trustees, feel part of a team; we had no doubt we WERE part of a team. An example: in the 1960’s, while other campuses were storming administration buildings to protest the Vietnam war, some HMC students decided to organize their own protest. And who was the first person they asked to speak to them? Joe, of course.

The third was quality. An example: Joe traveled the country recruiting the best founding faculty he could. Art Campbell and Roy Whiteker in chemistry, Bob James in mathematics, Bill Davenport and George Wickes in humanities, and Gray Bell and Duane Roller in physics. And a couple of years later he brought in engineers of like quality, to found what ultimately became the best undergraduate engineering program in the country.

The fourth was fun. Joe had a sense of play. An example of course is his guitar playing and singing Art Roberts songs, at places like the East Dorm Christmas Party. “When Rabi was a young man….” “Round and round and round go the deuterons …..”. Nobody was left out; we all came in on the choruses.

Joe was and is the fundamental soul of Harvey Mudd College.

Bob Cave

Professor of chemistry, HMC

I loved Joe’s enthusiasm for each new endeavor at HMC. His ability to support innovation that furthered the mission statement was inspiring.

John Townsend

Professor of physics, HMC

My first year at HMC was Joe’s last and 20th year as president. So most of my experiences with Joe date from the period after he returned from a five-year sojourn as head of CUC. He started teaching a section of Physics 54, Modern Lab, each spring until he was 90, to very good effect with the students. Since I chaired the physics department in that period, he often introduced me as his boss, which certainly gave me a good laugh.

Looking back at the history of Harvey Mudd College, the most striking thing to me is that Joe somehow managed to create a college that was perceived as excellent from the very beginning, one that consequently attracted unusually capable students and faculty. It is an amazing accomplishment, given where we started, and speaks to Joe’s special character.