August 13, 2013
Principal Harrison Bailey III
Subject: Nomination of David L. Waltz, PhD,
1943-2012, as Distinguished Alumnus of
Dear Principal Bailey
Members of my
In our high school years, David was my best friend. I followed his progress as he went on to MIT,
where he completed his BS, MS and PhD degrees several years later. Then it was on to the
In the late 1980s I visited him at the Thinking Machines Corporation
in
Near the end of David’s time with NEC he was elected President of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, serving a two year term, 1997-1999.
David had numerous advisory roles, in such organizations as NASA’s Ames Research Laboratories, and the Army Research Laboratory, Digitization and Communications Science Division, as well as with the National Science Foundation.
David went on from the NEC Research Institute to establish,
staff, and head the Center for Computational Learning Systems at
David was a somewhat quiet, thoughtful lad in his high school days, active in band and also its president. He took part in other activities as well, but was not one to grab the attention of others as some do. (Below: David’s yearbook photograph, 1961.)
I will always treasure the memories of talking with David every few weeks during the last 12 months of his life, using Skype video conferencing. He knew and faced his very difficult fate with courage, and the wonderful spirit he seemed to exhibit all his life.
I believe you can find few
When David passed away, the New York Times put the newspaper’s article about his life, not on the obituary page, but in the Science Section, headlined, “. . .Computer Science Pioneer Dies, Aged 68”. This article is the first exhibit following this cover letter, and I believe is a very strong argument for seconding this nomination.
Also please note daughter Vanessa’s letter, which tells of a very unusual father who took time for others to an unusual extent!
Yours sincerely,
Thomas J. Haupert, for the Class of 1961
Enclosures:
The New York Times Obituary;
The letter of daughter, Vanessa, about a very unusual father;
The Wikipedia article, as of July 20, 2013;
Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) about David L. Waltz;
In Memoriam,
Curriculum Vitae.