In Memory

John Pollock

John Pollock

John Leslie Pollock was a Regent's Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at the University of Arizona.  He died on September 29, 2009 after a long bout with cancer.  He was 69.

Pollock was among the dominant figures in epistemology, the study of the nature of knowledge.  His research also expanded into two relatively new areas: cognitive science and artificial intelligence, or AI.

Philosophy is not really a discipline, Pollock said in 2004 on learning he had been named Regent's Professor.  "It's what's left over after you take out the sciences.  Most of the sciences started out as philosophy," he said, pointing out as examples that psychology, linguistics and physics were once part of philosophy.

John was born on Jan. 28, 1940, in Atchison, Kansas, moved with his parents to St. Louis Park, MN and graduated with us in 1958.  He graduated three years later, in 1961, from University College within the University of Minnesota, with a triple major -- physics, philosophy and mathematics.  John had effectively designed his own college curriculum, studied what interested him and found that the best way to earn a University degree was within the University College.

In 1965 he earned a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, and held a succession of faculty positions at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Rochester in Rochester, N. Y., and the University of Michigan.  It was at Buffalo that his two daughters, Katherine and Erika, were born.  John was always too busy thinking, teaching and writing, to come to any of our class reunions; but we remained in loose contact with him over the years.

Pollock was recruited to the University of Arizona in 1978, when the University was actively seeking to become a major research institution.  He said he declined an offer from Syracuse University and came to Tucson "against my better judgment," largely because of the weather and lifestyle, he had said to his University colleagues.  Pollock's campus office included an artificial intelligence laboratory where he worked on models of human cognition.

But John worked hard at becoming acclimated to his new environment.  He was an outdoor enthusiast, cyclist and photographer.  He took up mountain biking as a hobby, and spent many hours traversing the hills and valleys around the Tucson area.  You can find many pictures of his activities that he put on his personal website:

                John had been divorced from his first wife for many years.  But while summering in Brazil, which he did regularly, he met Lilian Jacques, and married her in 2005.  They traveled the world together and took many pictures of their trips.  John was an amateur photographer, with a keen eye for landscapes.

Pollock published more than a dozen books and more than 100 essays in professional journals during his career.  Many of his former students are accomplished faculty at other colleges and universities in the U.S. and other countries.  "John was a man of energy without limit are warm spirit without fail," wrote philosophy department head Christopher Maloney.  "He deeply appreciated art in virtually all its many forms and was himself a wonderfully gifted photographer with an unmatched eye for landscapes," Maloney said.

John L. Pollock is survived by his wife, Lilian Jacques, and daughters Katherine Pollock and Erika Burkhalter.  To learn much more about his life and work you can either "Google" John L. Pollock, or "Wikipedia" John L. Pollock; or go directly to his professional website: http://oscarhome.soc-sci.arizona.edu/pollock.html and follow the link to his "Personal Profile" pages about his world travels and see the many pictures that he has placed there.



 
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07/26/15 01:50 PM #1    

Mary Reid (Brooks)

What an amazing man & scholar.  Now, I regret not knowing him better!  Beautifully written eulogy.  Mary Reid Brooks  


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