Wed 26 Oct 2016 10:41
On October 16th, 2016, Kelly Gotlieb, founder of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, passed away in his 96th year. I had the privilege of knowing him. Kelly was a terrific person: brilliant, kind, and humble. He was always willing to make time for people. He was a great thinker: his insights, particularly in the area of computing and society, were highly influential. I never fully realized how influential he was until we, here at the department of Computer Science, created a blog, http://socialissues.cs.toronto.edu, in honour of the 40th anniversary of Social Issues in Computing, the seminal textbook he and Allan Borodin wrote in 1973 in the area of computers and society. I served as editor of the blog, and solicited contributions from the top thinkers in the field. So many of them responded, explaining to me how influential his ideas had been to them, and the blog was filled with insightful articles building in various ways upon the foundation that he and Allan had laid so many years before. I interviewed Kelly for the blog, and he was terrific: even in his nineties, he was full of insights. His mind active and enthusiastic, he was making cogent observations on the latest technologies, ranging from self-driving cars to automated medical diagnosis and treatment.
To me, Kelly epitomized the truth about effective teaching that is all too often missed: teaching is not just about information, teaching is about inspiration. Kelly was a truly inspiring teacher and thinker. He was completely authentic in everything he did, he was full of enthusiasm, and that enthusiasm was infectious. Conversations with Kelly so often left me energized and inspired, thinking along new directions of thought that something he said had triggered, or leaping past obstacles that had previously seems insurmountable. That is true teaching. Information without inspiration is simply fodder for forgetfulness, but teaching that inspires leads to new insights, integration of ideas, genuine understanding, and a better, clearer and sharper window on the world. Kelly inspired so many people for so many years. We are truly blessed that he was among us. He will be remembered.