Viera Kair joined CSE in 2003 and was a fixture of the undergraduate advising team for nearly 20 years before her retirement in June. During her tenure in the department, Kair advised thousands of students and mentored many colleagues. Kair has been an essential and valued resource for CSE students, faculty, and other campus stakeholders.
Kair was among the first people on campus to be certified by UC San Diego’s yoga teacher training and she taught yoga on campus at the library consistently from the date of her certification up until the pandemic hit. In retirement she is looking forward to traveling with her husband, Steve, and spending more time with her family in Serbia.
Walter Savitch, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Engineering, passed away on February 1, 2021, just three weeks before his 78th birthday, due to complications related to Parkinson’s disease. Savitch is remembered as a kind advisor, dedicated educator, a mentor and a friend, and a world-class computer scientist. Savitch was best known for the eponymous “Savitch’s Theorem,” and during his time at UC San Diego wrote several popular introductory computer science textbooks. He was one of the first junior computer scientists hired onto the UC San Diego faculty in 1969, and was instrumental in guiding the department from its beginnings as the Applied Physics and Information Science (APIS) Department into the eventual Computer Science and Engineering Department.
Ron Graham, a professor of computer science and mathematics, passed away on July 6, 2020, at his home in La Jolla from complications due to bronchiectasis. He was 84. During a career that spanned six decades, Graham discovered Graham’s Number, served as president of both principal mathematical associations in the United States and was known for his playful approach to mathematics. He famously once said that he considered juggling a physical form of mathematics and even co-authored an entire book of mathematics-based card games.
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