I was a faculty member at Cornell University in Engineering starting in the early 1970's and I discovered that Bob Gardner from my El Camino graduating class was also working at Cornell. It turned out Kathy Fargo was there also at the same time. Having three people from the same EC graduating class at Cornell in NY was a remarkable coincidence given that Cornell is thousands of miles away from Sacramento.
When I met him again in the seventies at Cornell , Bob had gotten a Ph.D. in some topic in the humanities (maybe History of Science) and (like other people in with PhDs in the humanities) it was hard to find a job exactly in the topic of his PhD so he became a University administrator. He was head of the Engineering Advisee Office, which was a postion with a lot of responsibility and respect. There were2400 students in the Engineering College so he was head of a big operation. He reminded me that we had set next to each other in math at El Camino. I and other people at Cornell thought Bob was doing an excellent job as head of advising
Bob was married to a very nice woman and he himself was very pleasant and helpful. I was trying to buy a house around that time and knew little about houses as structures or as an investment. Bob on the other hand knew alot and I think he was capable of doing fairly complex carpentry. Although I didn't know him and his wife well, Bob offered to look at a house I was seriously considering. He looked at it, pointed out some serious flaws, and convinced me not to buy it. It was great advice and he had generously given his time to do it.
Bob was so successful at Cornell that he was eventually offered a higher level position at another university (perhaps on the West Coast). It might have been at the level of Vice Provost. To Cornell's diappointment Bob left Cornell to take this new position.
He had only been gone a year or two when we were shocked to hear that he had died. I think it was from natural causes. I would guess this was around 1978.
I am writing this account from memory since I was not able to find an obituary, so there may be some errors in facts. I don't know if he had children
Bob Gardner was a fine, generous person and it is tragic he died so young.
Christine Moore (Shoemaker)
I was a faculty member at Cornell University in Engineering starting in the early 1970's and I discovered that Bob Gardner from my El Camino graduating class was also working at Cornell. It turned out Kathy Fargo was there also at the same time. Having three people from the same EC graduating class at Cornell in NY was a remarkable coincidence given that Cornell is thousands of miles away from Sacramento.
When I met him again in the seventies at Cornell , Bob had gotten a Ph.D. in some topic in the humanities (maybe History of Science) and (like other people in with PhDs in the humanities) it was hard to find a job exactly in the topic of his PhD so he became a University administrator. He was head of the Engineering Advisee Office, which was a postion with a lot of responsibility and respect. There were2400 students in the Engineering College so he was head of a big operation. He reminded me that we had set next to each other in math at El Camino. I and other people at Cornell thought Bob was doing an excellent job as head of advising
Bob was married to a very nice woman and he himself was very pleasant and helpful. I was trying to buy a house around that time and knew little about houses as structures or as an investment. Bob on the other hand knew alot and I think he was capable of doing fairly complex carpentry. Although I didn't know him and his wife well, Bob offered to look at a house I was seriously considering. He looked at it, pointed out some serious flaws, and convinced me not to buy it. It was great advice and he had generously given his time to do it.
Bob was so successful at Cornell that he was eventually offered a higher level position at another university (perhaps on the West Coast). It might have been at the level of Vice Provost. To Cornell's diappointment Bob left Cornell to take this new position.
He had only been gone a year or two when we were shocked to hear that he had died. I think it was from natural causes. I would guess this was around 1978.
I am writing this account from memory since I was not able to find an obituary, so there may be some errors in facts. I don't know if he had children
Bob Gardner was a fine, generous person and it is tragic he died so young.
(by Christine Moore Shoemaker)