Liz Orwin '95
Assoc prof of engineering, HMC
I’ll never forget lining up outside of the registrar’s office the night before to make sure I got into Joe Platt’s section of E&M lab -and I’m so glad I did! He told us many stories of the history of HMC which helped me to see what a special place this really is. Joe was – and is – the heart of this place. I hope we, the current faculty, honor his memory in our passionate quest for a great educational experience.
Rachel Bittker '93
Family physician, San Diego, CA
Thank you for all you did for HMC. And thank you for singing to us students!
Brian Rohrback '74
President, Infometrix, Inc.
I remember the numerous occasions when Joe and Jean would open their home to students. It is clear that they both truly enjoyed every interaction and became our friends, not just administrators, teachers or mentors. Joe set the stage for all that Harvey Mudd is and will continue to be. Then again, he did introduce me to a passion for listening to Tom Lehrer songs, but everyone has to have a quirk 😉
Mack Gilkeson
Emeritus prof of engineering
From earliest memories (1961) Joe was fun to be around — at the swimming pool, in casual meetings in the halls or at coffee, and even in the late spring faculty meetings when he would inform us that financial prospects were again dim this year, which, of course, would affect salary raises.
Kevin Fairchild '90
High school science teacher, San Diego, CA
Professor Platt had a profound effect on my future career. He was my advisor during freshman year, and after I failed multi-variable calculus first semester, he called me into his office and asked what the problem was. I told him I got the grade I deserved, because I didn’t understand a thing. He then spent about an hour explaining the concepts of divergence and curl using analogies from physics. A light bulb in my head clicked, and I got an A in repeating the class.
It was the first time I was aware of a teacher being able to adjust their teaching methods for an individual student’s learning style. I try to do that for my own students now, using whatever modalities or learning styles might be their strengths. I first saw that from Joe Platt.
As I was at Mudd longer, I learned about Dr. Platt as founding President and all his history with HMC and the Five Colleges. But for me, I will remember him simply as a great teacher.