Robert E. Kennedy

Robert E. "Bob" Kennedy, 95, president emeritus of Cal Poly State University, died Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010, at his home in San Luis Obispo. Bob was born in October 1915 in Portland, Ore. Bob moved to San Luis Obispo from San Diego in 1940 with his wife, Mary, and their four month old son, Bob Jr., to take a position at Cal Poly as head of the journalism program and publications manager. During his 40 years at Cal Poly, he held more than a half-dozen different positions under then president, Julian A. McPhee. He promoted Bob from head of the journalism department to public relations director, to assistant to the president, to dean of arts and sciences, to executive vice president, 1959 to 1966. He was appointed president of Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo in 1967, and retired 12 years later in 1979. During his last year as president, the Board of Trustees honored him by naming the new library, the Robert E. Kennedy Library. Before coming to San Luis Obispo, Bob spent most of his childhood in San Diego, and was educated in the public schools, including four years at San Diego State University, where he graduated with a BA degree in English in 1938. He earned his master''s degree in journalism at Stanford University, and his Ph.D. in educational administration at Claremont Graduate School. While teaching journalism at Cal Poly, he worked summers as a reporter for the San Diego Daily Journal and San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune. While on sabbatical leave at Stanford, he worked as a reporter for the Palo Alto Times. His memoirs were published by the university in 2001 as part of the Centennial Celebration under the tile: "Learn by Doing: Memoirs of a University President." Bob is survived by his wife, Mary. They had four children, the eldest of whom, Bob Jr., died in 1985. The surviving children are Maridel Salisbury of Avila Beach, Stephen Kennedy of Salinas, Calif., and Susan Street, of Cardiff, Calif.; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, at the San Luis Obispo United Methodist Church, 1515 Fredericks St. in San Luis Obispo. Memorial contributions may be made to the Robert E. and Mary E. Kennedy Endowment Fund of the Kennedy Library, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, or the United Methodist Church.