Bob Borrelli | In Memoriam | Harvey Mudd College

Mathematics Leader and Entrepreneur

Robert “Bob” L. Borrelli, a longtime faculty member, campus leader and friend of Harvey Mudd College died Sept. 11, 2013 at the age of 81, following a short period of declining health. Borrelli joined the faculty in 1964, taught for 35 years and was active at Harvey Mudd in his retirement, influencing the College’s development in many ways.

“In addition to being an inspiring teacher and colleague, Bob was a driving force in the mathematics field, especially at Harvey Mudd,” said President Maria Klawe. “This is splendidly shown in the 2006 Award for an Exemplary Mathematics Program from the American Mathematical Society, the first such award ever given.”

He was instrumental in the evolution of the Harvey Mudd mathematics program. He served multiple terms as department chair (1975-1977, 1981-1989) and as director (1975-1977, 1978-1980, 1981-1989) of the Mathematics Clinic program. His belief that computers were underused in higher mathematics spurred a new way of teaching differential equations. With his longtime colleague and collaborator Courtney Coleman, professor of mathematics emeritus, Borrelli developed many curricular innovations, including a Differential Equations course that emphasized modeling and visualization using computer software.

With Coleman, he wrote the textbook Differential Equations: A Modeling Perspective and built ODE Architect, visualization software used by a generation of Harvey Mudd students. The project was named “One of the nine best digital projects on the planet” in 1998 by New Media magazine.

In a 2011 statement, Borelli shared his reasons for joining the Harvey Mudd community: “Two things attracted me to a very young Harvey Mudd College in 1964: a very selective student body and the chance to help build a mathematics program suitable for these talented students. Although money was scarce in the early days, I especially appreciated the fact that Harvey Mudd encouraged its faculty to be creative with the curriculum.”

In addition to teaching, Borelli supported students through initiatives outside the classroom. He and his wife, Ursula, endowed the Giovanni Borrelli Prize and the Giovanni Borrelli Fellowship, which recognizes a Harvey Mudd mathematics major who seeks to complete high-quality research independently or with a faculty advisor. He was the principal architect behind the founding of the Interface Journal, an undergraduate interdisciplinary journal that later was reinvented as the online Interface Compendium. He also co-founded the Claremont Center for Mathematical Sciences, which enables mathematics research and other collaborative initiatives on an unprecedented scale in Claremont. He infused the concept of the Harvey Mudd Clinic Program into a summer program at UCLA called Research in Industry Program for Students.

Harvey Mudd College honored Borrelli for his extraordinary dedication and service with the Henry T. Mudd Prize (1998) and the Alumni Association Honorary Alumnus award (1999).

“His true legacy is the generations of mathematicians at Harvey Mudd and beyond that he inspired to do great things,” said Andy Bernoff, chair of the Department of Mathematics.

During and after his time at Harvey Mudd, Borrelli pursued several entrepreneurial ventures. He served for several years as president and chairman of the board at Innosoft International Inc., founded in October 1987. A developer of Internet standards-based messaging and directory solutions, the company was sold in 2000 to Sun Microsystems Inc. During the early 2000s, Borrelli also co-owned a restaurant in downtown Claremont, where he shared his love of food and wine with others.

Before coming to Harvey Mudd, Borrelli was an assistant professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, a senior engineering specialist at Philco Corp., and a National Science Faculty Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Bonn, West Germany. He received his B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from Stanford University and his PhD in applied mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Borrelli was preceded in death by his wife, Ursula, who died in December 2012. He is survived by their four children, Monica Hess, Christina Franks, Margaret Murphy and Stephen Borrelli 11 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Memories of Bob

Nicholas Steinhoff ’81

Student and family friend

I’ll miss Dr. Borrelli greatly – I’m glad my wife had a chance to spend a day with the two of us on campus last year. Bob and Ursula were always so kind to me during the countless hours I spent in their home during my years in Claremont.
A genuine giant of a man, in more ways than one, will be so missed at the Harvey Mudd campus and by his wonderful family.

François Rocaries

Visiting Professor at the Math Dept HMC (1995-96) and friend of Bob

J’ai rencontré Bob pour la première fois lors d’une de ses années sabbatiques à Paris. Il n’a eu de cesse ensuite de me faire venir à Harvey Mudd College pour lui rendre la pareille.
Grace à lui et à Ursula j’ai passé une merveilleuse année à Los Angeles. Ils m’ont permis de m’intégrer à merveille au sein de la communauté d’Harvey Mudd et de profiter au maximum de cette période de ma vie.
J’ai, en ce moment même, ouvert sur mon bureau, un de ses livres sur les équations différentielles écrit avec son complice Courtney.
Je regretterai longtemps nos longs diners consacrés, entre autre, aux mérites respectifs de divers tire-bouchons et d’algorithmes de résolutions d’équations différentielles.
Au revoir Bob… et au revoir Ursula dont j’apprend en même temps la disparition. Aujourd’hui il pleut sur Paris comme un écho à ma tristesse.
I met Bob for the first time during one of his sabbatical year in Paris. He never stopped then bring me to Harvey Mudd College to return the favor.
Thanks to him and Ursula I spent a wonderful year in Los Angeles. They allowed me to integrate perfectly in the Harvey Mudd community and take full advantage of this period of my life.
I have, at this moment, open on my desk, one of his books on differential equations written with his friend Courtney.
I will miss our long long dinners devoted, among other things, the relative merits of various corkscrews and algorithms of solution of differential equations.
Goodbye Bob … And Ursula goodbye, as I learned at the same time your disappearance. Today it rains in Paris as an echo to my sadness.

Gary Kiefer ’70

Sophomore Math Student

As a Chemistry major, sophomore math was a requirement, but not my greatest strength. I was fortunate to have Bob Borelli as my section instructor. He shared his joy and love of math and teaching, until I too was having fun. How cool is that! I will miss Bob and his passion.

Jerome Spanier

Colleague and friend

I am very saddened by news of Bob’s passing, and I am sorry that I was unable to attend the Memorial Service for him. I have known and admired Bob since my arrival in 1970. He was among the most energetic, involved and affable persons in Claremont and I learned much from He and I collaborated on a number of projects, both administrative (e.g., as co-Directors of the HMC-CGS math clinic) and technical. My wife and I enjoyed Bob & Ursula’s company at many social events over the years; especially those at which Bob conducted wine-tastings. Bob was instrumental in contributing to the HMC math program and very well-liked by students, faculty and others in prominent leadership positions in Claremont.

Thanks, Bob, for the fond memories; you will certainly be missed.

Jerry Spanier

Cynthia Souza

Support Staff

Bob will always hold a special place in my heart. I supported Bob when I worked for the IT Department. I knew him for over 18 years, and he was one of our favorite Professors. We loved to see Bob coming down the hall. He was one of those people who made a difference and touched peoples lives in a very special way. He will be remembered for his cheery spirit, and dedication to Harvey Mudd. I was so sad to hear of his passing. Unfortunately, didn’t hear of it until after the service. Heartfelt sympathy to the family. Bob will definitely be missed. He was a truly wonderful person to work with all these years.

Scott Lange ’69

Student

Above all Dr. Borelli enjoyed sharing math with all of us and used his own enthusiasm to spark ours. He worked very hard to make topics as clear as possible. It was obvious that he cared deeply for students.

Clyde Johnston

Colleague at Innosoft International, Inc.

We’ve all lost a larger than life guy. As President/CEO of Innosoft International, Inc. from 1991-2000 I’ll always remember Bob Borrelli as bright, fun, and a very committed and supportive Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Innosoft. Bob and Urusula Borrelli made the world a better place each and every day.

Bobby Berger ’94

Student

Professor Borrelli went out of his way to ensure I understood the subject. He introduced me to modelling & solving complex problems using computers as a tool which was influential in ALL my work thereafter. I will celebrate his life & pass on the great karma he gave me.

Jeff Groves

Colleague and friend

Bob was a great colleague. When I was a young faculty member at HMC, it quickly became clear to me that Bob had real pull at the institution. He helped to shape our college, especially in his work in the Mathematics Department, but also much more widely. But he was also just a very cool guy. I enjoyed running into him and having a quick chat–he was always interested, always curious. I’ll miss him.

Craig Watkins ’76

Student, Admirer, and frequent Imitator

While my senior advisor was, on paper, Courtney Coleman, it had become clear long before that that “Borelli and Coleman” meant either or both. Their text was used several years ago for a “more theoretical” DE subject at MIT, and the fact that I had taken a class at Mudd with the mimeographed manuscript notes (which I still have!) impressed many. It wasn’t until I starting teaching DEs with computational methods
that I fully appreciated how much I had learned without realizing it.

A few years ago I was asked to help referee a physics paper for the American Journal of Physics, cited the printed B&C text, and made a fan out of the former president of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Of course, with Bob and Courtney, and the late Stavros, it wasn’t all just math. Others know of Bob’s devotion to wine, while others were more of the beer frame of mind, so to speak. Once at a party at John

Greever’s, Stavros had brought a bottle of homemade wine. Bob claimed it was good, the rest of us found it undrinkable, and Courtney was the only one to speak for the majority.

The night after the class of ’76 graduated, and the parents had been put to bed, one of our number decided to open a magnum of champagne given as a graduation gift. On our way to borrow ice from the chemistry department, we saw that the light was on in Bob’s office. We shared the champagne, and he just happened to have a bottle of better stuff in his desk drawer.
As I recall, our impromptu party broke up around 2AM.

Anyone who has used or can get a hold of their text will not be surprised to see the long example of using differential equations to decide on the best depth for a wine cellar.