Joe Platt

Last week Harvey Mudd College lost its founding father, Joe Platt, the first president of the college. We were fortunate enough to have known Joe, and his wife, Jean, since we moved to Claremont 26 years ago. You can read about his achievements in the LA Times obituary here, but I can also add that we consider Joe and Jean to be our role models. We loved his warmth, his quick wit, his graciousness, and the way he gracefully aged, staying active in the community, the church and in exercising.

My favorite Joe story is how he helped HMC become co-ed right from the start. In the mid 1950s the board of trustees was discussing this with him, and someone made the comment that HMC wouldn't really want women in the classroom because, "who would want to marry a woman mathematician?" Without missing a beat, Joe said, "Well, I did." So there you have it.

We'll miss you, Joe.