Necrology

Robert Peter Rich '41

Aug. 28, 1919-Sep. 11, 2007

Robert Peter Rich ’41, a mathematician and computing center director long associated with the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, was born on August 28, 1919, in Lowville, NY, north of Utica. His parents were Charles W. Rich, a builder, and the former Agnes C. Keegan, a teacher. Bob Rich grew up in Lowville, prepared for college at Lowville Academy, and enrolled at Hamilton in 1937. He joined the Emerson Literary Society, became active in the Newman Club, and served as editor-in-chief of the literary and humor magazine Gaboon and Continental. Elected to the journalism honorary Pi Delta Epsilon, “the Latin Bard of Emerson Hall,” who was also known for “dreaming up mathematical gadgets with which to baffle the faculty,” captured numerous awards for his academic accomplishments. They included the Tompkins Prize in Mathematics and the Arnold Prize Scholarship, capped off by the prestigious Root Fellowship in Science. He was graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941, with honors in math and Latin.

Shortly after leaving the Hill and months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bob Rich was inducted into the U.S. Army. He remained in uniform throughout World War II and landed with his unit in Normandy, soon after the Allied invasion. While in France he served as first sergeant of a signal depot company, a rank in which he took great pride of achievement. Discharged from the Army in November 1945, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to pursue graduate studies in mathematics at Johns Hopkins. While in Baltimore, he met Audrey L. Fairley. They were married on June 27, 1949, in her hometown of Millinocket, ME.

After receiving his Ph.D. degree in 1950, Bob Rich joined the technical staff of the University’s Applied Physics Laboratory as an operations analyst, doing research in connection with a guided missile project. Although Dr. Rich’s Ph.D. preparation was in theoretical mathematics, he would focus on a wide range of applied problems during his career at the Lab, and especially digital computing. When the Lab obtained its first computer in 1956, he took charge of its operation and served as director of the Lab’s computing center until 1985. Thereafter he returned to operations research, working three days a week until his retirement at age 70 in late 1989.

Bob Rich’s fascination with computation led him to write programs for music generation and to generate weaving patterns for the loom he had constructed. He also built his own word processing system, published papers on the design of early high-level programming languages, information retrieval, and mechanical proof testing, and wrote one of the first books on sorting algorithms.

Through the years, Bob Rich, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, wore what he described as “a number of other interesting hats.” For many years a part-time associate professor of biomedical engineering at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, he also served from 1967 to 1979 as president of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and was assistant director of the Space Telescope Science Institute during its first year.

After his retirement, Bob Rich turned with his characteristic wholeheartedness to ballroom dancing. He not only took to the dance floor but also collected and compiled an annotated bibliography of books on social dance. The collection is now in the Fine Arts Library of the University of Texas. In addition, he found pleasure in motorcycle riding and sailing.

Robert P. Rich, a resident of Austin, TX, for the past few years, died on September 11, 2007. Predeceased by his wife in 1985, he is survived by a daughter, Elaine A. Rich; a son, David W. Rich; and two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A scholarship fund is being established at Hamilton in Dr. Rich’s name and memory.

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