Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 22:02:11 GMT Server: NCSA/1.4.2 Content-type: text/html Last-modified: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 18:24:33 GMT Content-length: 4303
Every December 19th, you can hear Rich's Grandmother tell the story of his birth. Rich, born two months premature, weighed in at a healthy two pounds. "It's the most precious thing I ever saw. The doctor came out of the delivery room holding Rich up in the palm of his hand..."
While Rich took slowly to eating and did not leave the hospital for several months, he did quickly discover the game of baseball. If you ever see the movie Brighton Beach Memoirs and see how Eugene lives, thinks and breathes baseball, you still will have no idea how much the national pastime meant to Rich. Baseball was everything.
While Rich hoped to spend his entire life playing baseball, his .050 Little League batting average was an early hint it would never happen. As fate would have it, one day after a short introduction to computer programming in 7th grade math class, Rich found himself with little to do. He decided to try to write a simple baseball program. After hours of intense activity, Rich completed his task - well not exactly. It would be weeks before his baseball program worked, but Rich was hooked. Computer science was his new destiny.
Rich's teenage years on Long Island saw many new interests develop. He discovered that falling down the side of a mountain at high speeds with long boards attached to his feet could actually be fun. He discovered that a small enclosed room with white walls was actually a great place to play ball. He discovered there was more to life than baseball and computers. He discovered there were women.
Rich met the love of his life, Joanna Labendz, at a party of a mutual friend. While he was supposed to be set up with another woman, Joanna quickly won Rich's heart. They have been inseparable ever since.
In high school, Rich found the sport a 5'7" tall athlete could master, archery. Rich went on to place 3rd at the Nassau County championships and helped lead his school to three consecutive undefeated seasons.
Rich finally left his Long Island home to study Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. One of the most important things Rich learned in Pittsburgh was where to find good desserts. Topping the list was Gullifty's "Killer Cookie", a homemade, fresh-from-the-oven, half-inch-thick, chocolate chip cookie covered with creamy vanilla ice cream and luscious hot fudge.
Rich, finding he was interested in research and teaching, moved to Seattle with Joanna to pursue a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. His Ph.D. research in artificial intelligence would investigate such topics as software agents, machine learning and data mining.
Moving to Seattle introduced Rich to many new diversions. He is now an avid bicycle rider and spends many hours on the back roads of Washington. He has discovered the beauty of hiking and the serenity of sea kayaking. He has also learned that the West Coast has wonderful skiing. Most importantly, Rich has discovered that he can hit slow-pitch softball. The dream lives on!
Rich is currently finishing his thesis entitled "Induction as Massive Search." When completed this summer, Rich will embark on the next stage of his career. What it will be, only time will tell.
To be continued...