Arthur Joseph Chapman

Arthur Joseph "Art" Chapman was born in 1946 in Vallejo, Calif., and passed away suddenly of a heart attack while on his morning walk Monday, April 9, 2012. Art was Professor Emeritus at Cal Poly, where he taught for 37 years in the Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. In his long career at Cal Poly, Art taught introductory and advanced classes in computer-aided design, building science and design studio, and played a pivotal faculty role in the architecture graduate program. In addition to serving a term as Architecture Associate Department Head, Art held multiple leadership positions within the university, including Director of Instructional Computing and Operations, Director of Computer-Aided Productivity Center and Director of Cal Poly Academic Mainframe Specialty Center. As emeritus and part of the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP), Art continued to team-teach with his friends and colleagues Professors Howard Weisenthal and Jim Bagnall. In 1986, Art founded the Cal Poly Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) with another longtime friend and colleague, Jens Pohl. In 1994, Art and Jens founded CDM Technologies, Inc. in San Luis Obispo, which was recently acquired by the Boeing Corporation and merged with its subsidiary, Tapestry Solutions. From 1994 to 2010, Art served as President of CDM. After the acquisition by Tapestry, Art agreed to continue in a leadership role and served as Senior Director of Tapestry Technical (IT) Services. Tapestry Solutions San Luis Obispo currently employs over 100 people and provides software development services to military and commercial customers. Art grew up in Reno, Nev., and the San Francisco Bay Area, where he attended St. Francis High School in Mountain View, Calif. He received his undergraduate degrees in Architecture and Mathematics from Cal Poly in 1970 and earned his master''s degree in Computer Science from Penn State in 1972. After graduate school, Art worked for architectural firms in in New York and Los Angeles before his return to San Luis to begin his teaching career at Cal Poly. Art modeled the importance of treating others with kindness and care at all times and served as a mentor, teacher, and guide to many people, in a variety of communities nearby and far away. He believed one of his most important roles in life was to facilitate, build and maintain relationships with others, and he did this with exceptional talent. He lived life with energy and enthusiasm that he readily shared with others. Art was a person who thought with his heart as well as his mind, and has left his spirit in his surviving wife of 43 years, Danielle; and two daughters Karen and Jennifer; extended family of students, colleagues, and friends; breakfast group of retired architecture professors, with whom he shared an understanding of the relationship between artistic work and community; and all of the dear companions who followed alongside his path at work and in life. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur Breckinridge and Josephine Tafoya Chapman; and brother, Steve Peluffo. Viewing will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, April 13, 2012, at Reis Family Mortuary, 991 Nipomo St. in San Luis Obispo. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 14, 2012, at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church, 221 Daly St. in San Luis Obispo, with a reception to follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Art''s honor to the Cal Poly Newman Center http://www.slonewman.org; or to a charity of your choice. Reis Family Mortuary 544-7400 San Luis Obispo