I am saddened by Tom’s passing. He influenced my academic life, my career trajectory, and my view of the best in America. Tom was my thesis advisor at City College of New York (CCNY) in the early ’70s. I may have been the first graduate student he mentored towards their PhD. It is an understatement to say that he was a great engineer, teacher, advisor, and mentor. He had great patience and brought out the best in his students. Besides the technology, he taught me how to get through and around the inevitable obstacles, and how to learn new technologies and techniques needed to get the research done. He showed me how to plan the research/work in parallel paths to accommodates delays and overcome unexpected obstacles. Tom was modest, patient, kind, and always available to help with a good sense of humor. He was the only person I ever encountered in my professional life at Union Carbide, Exxon Research, and my own company who could see a phenomenon, write the differential equations, develop an analytical or computer solution, design an experiment to test the solution, and get the results to verified his solution. Most engineers and scientists can only do a piece of the research cycle, not the full cycle.
He also influenced my view of the best of America. He had it all. He was gifted, brilliant, efficient, humble, patient, kind, helpful, fair, friendly, and sensitive. He was also an engineer/scientist who got things done. He set an extraordinary example. He personified all the good qualities I imagine Americans represent. Sadly, he was in a small league of extraordinary people -- people they should be making movies about.
Knowing he is no longer with us pains me greatly. They say a person truly dies, years in the future, when he is no longer remembered. To Janet, his family, friends, and acquaintances, may his memory be a blessing for many years to come.