Tanis Nielsen '23
Student
I took Prof Keller’s CS 42 class my freshman year. He was the first teacher I had who was able to communicate the complexity and beauty of the field, and the class convinced me to continue studying CS. Even knowing Prof Keller for a short time I could tell that he was passionate about his work, and I will remember him fondly.
Dan Pryma '98
No matter what time of day emails were sent, Prof. Keller was legendary for replying within 20 minutes. During my four years at Mudd I never heard of a longer turnaround. The replies were always helpful, too. His dedication and passion were inspiring.
Patricia Wang
Colleague
The performances by the jazz improv class taught by Bob were part of the few “late night” campus events I attended because I enjoy jazz and I love seeing our students shine as musicians. Bob had a way of bringing out their best and it was delightful to see returning students improve with every performance. Not being a night owl like Bob, I didn’t enjoy the 8 pm (or later) concert times, but I was always glad I went.
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.