Bruce Nelson, a 1982 PhD graduate from Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science died suddenly of aortic dissection in the fall of 1999. He was the chief science officer at Cisco Systems.

Today, many of Bruce's friends and colleagues have teamed up to establish the Bruce Nelson Scholarship Fund at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. With over $1.1 million already contributed, the Nelson Fund hopes to attract and retain the best and brightest students to study the field of computer science at the top IT university in the world. One of Bruce's friends, Dr. Edward Frank, cofounder of Epigram (now the Home Networking Division of Broadcom), hopes others who want to remember Bruce will contribute to the fund.

"I think Bruce most uniquely captured the essence of what studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon is all about -the only limitations of what is possible is what your own mind limits you to accomplish. I hope the Nelson Fund will allow tomorrow dreamers to come together and push the frontiers of technology further than we can imagine."

You can also make a gift to the Nelson Fund.

Everyone seems to have an interesting, funny story about Bruce Nelson. Some stories are about his kindness or the amount of raw intelligence he had. Others draw on his fun-loving, uninhibited side, the part that rejected social constraints and allowed Bruce to live life the way he wanted to. Regardless of what people remember about Bruce, the point is, they never forget him.

Sharon Burks, assistant dean for SCS Academic Affairs and Dept. of Computer Science Associate Department Head, recalls his unabashed love for life and an unwillingness to conform to social decorum. Sharon shared the following about Bruce:

"He taught me that anyone can be anything they want to be, and that the choice about what I would get from life was mine alone. He taught me not to wait on the things I really wanted, because I might not get the chance if I waited too long. [...]

Many more stories and personal testimonies like Sharon's can be found in the Archives for the BZM K-Man E-Mail list.

Alumnus and Cisco chief science officer Bruce Nelson died suddenly of aortic dissection in the fall of 1999. To honor his memory, fellow alumni and friends, and others have contributed $1.1 million dollars to the Nelson Fund to attract and retain the best and brightest students to the School of Computer Science.