David Baylor

Colleague and Friend

I served as a Trustee with Michael for over 15 years. He was a wonderful friend and mentor to me (a non alumni) on all things Mudd, and myriad other subjects. We served on several committees together and he was always thoughtful, insightful, respectful and caring in doing our work. I’ll miss our lively conversations and Michael’s good humor. My wife and I will miss the time we spent with Michael and Sharon over the years and Harvey Mudd College will surely miss his presence.

Laurie Girand

Friend

Mike was the Chair of the PPCPC Committee when I first joined the Board of Trustees in 2016. At this point, he was amongst if not the oldest trustees, and he could always be replied upon for the history of what came before and a keen perspective of the board’s transactions. My happiest memory, though, is of our playing pickleball together, both amateurs, at SmokeTree Ranch during a Saddlerock Retreat, shortly after his wife passed. Twenty years of age between us, and we had a great time rallying. I will miss him very much.

Joe Connolly

Fellow Trustee

I joined the Harvey Mudd Board in 2013, and from the beginning Mike was my friend and mentor. He was wise, funny, and always eager to engage in spirited discussions about any issue related to the college. I sometimes thought the first person who could understand Mike was the smartest one in the room was the second-smartest one in the room. I treasured our friendship and I’ll miss him terribly.

Bruce Worster ’64

Friend

Michael and I first met in 1960 when I entered HMC, and he was beginning his sophomore year. We were members of the third and fourth classes to enter, so that was the first year the school had four full classes. While we had occasional conversations, he and I were not socially connected as undergraduates. After he graduated in 1963, Michael (then in a MSEE program at Cal Tech) would occasionally stay in West Dorm on the weekend to visit Sharon, who was a senior at Scripps. After I graduated in 1964, we had no contact for many years as our careers took us on different trajectories. Michael went on to get his PhD at UC Berkeley and a distinguished career at IBM.

We reconnected years later when we found ourselves both living in Silicon Valley and were members of AABOG. His enthusiasm and humor were infectious. Michael and Sharon and Susan and I became fast friends and spent many hours together on all sorts of adventures. They introduced us to photography collection, we shared season tickets to the local opera, traveled to South Africa, Spain, France, England, Germany and many venues across the country. I helped bring Michael onto the HMC Board of Trustees, where he served until very recently. The loss of Sharon was a blow, but Michael bravely kept going. At least weekly Michael would communicate by text, email or phone on an amazing variety of topics, stimulating conversation and debate. A few days ago, our friend and emeritus Trustee Dick Hoch ’63 wrote a beautiful and succinct passage defining who Michael was and how we all related to him:

“Our world will be a little duller without that bright light. He never grew old, and his curiosity never waned. I will miss losing arguments.” Amen!

Rick Sontag ’64

Friend

I first met Mike when I moved to West Dorm after my freshman year. He was one of the first people I met in the dorm. Bright, outgoing, upbeat and always active. He became and continued to be a good friend my whole life. He also had a mischievous side and a great sense of humor like the time he helped lead an evening escapade of hotwiring a few construction tractors near the HMC quad area and then taking them for a joy ride around the campus. He also helped pull me into the infamous Miwukaroids club, which set the standard for crazy off campus parties and sponsored events. But when he met a Scrippsie named Sharon Walther his destiny was sealed. He and Sharon were a perfect couple. He couldn’t have found a better lifetime partner. They were married right after college.

Mike was a great HMC citizen and participated in numerous college advisory groups as well serving a long stint on the HMC Board of Trustees while Sharon sat on the Board of Trustees of Scripps. After grad school he had a great career at IBM and also at other technical jobs. He was devastated a few years ago when Sharon was diagnosed with throat cancer and died during her treatment. Recently Mike had some difficult medical issues that the doctors believe caused his death. But I think he really died of an incurable broken heart.