Ralph E. Griswold

Ralph Griswold Obituary

GRISWOLD, Ralph E., Regents Professor Emeritus, Department of Computer Science at The University of Arizona, died October 4, 2006 at St. Joseph's Hospital, Tucson. The cause of death was complications from pancreatic cancer. Dr. Griswold was born on May 19, 1934 in Modesto, California, the son of Gale Charles Griswold and Dorothy Evelyn Jones Griswold. He received his BS degree in Physics with Great Distinction from Stanford University in 1956, followed by an MS in Electrical Engineering in 1960 and a PhD in Electrical Engineering in 1962, also from Stanford University. From 1962 until 1971 Dr. Griswold was associated with Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, where he headed the Programming Language Research Group. During his tenure there he was responsible for the design and implementation of the SNOBOL programming languages, culminating in SNOBOL4, a general-purpose programming language designed for manipulating strings of characters. In 1971 Dr. Griswold was bought to The University of Arizona to form the Department of Computer Science. He served as head of the department from the early 1970s until 1981. His areas of research and development included the Icon programming language, designed for high-level general-purpose programming problems involving manipulation of strings of characters. He retired from the university in 1997. Dr. Griswold was the author of numerous books and articles in the field of computer science. After his retirement his research interests turned to the mathematical aspects of weaving and he became well-known in the weaving community for a large database and web site related to weaving. He dedicated much of his work to preserving old weaving drafts, the actual instructions for weaving designs. He is survived by his wife, Madge Turner Griswold; a son, William Gale Griswold (Maureen Feeley) of San Diego, California; a daughter, Rebecca Griswold Reid (Brian) of Coupeville, Washington and four grandchildren. In accordance with Dr. Griswold's wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial service. The family will receive friends at home Saturday afternoon, October 7, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a charity of choice.

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Published by Arizona Daily Star on Oct. 5, 2006.

Memories and Condolences
for Ralph Griswold

11 Entries

Angela Sivilli

December 30, 2006

Hi Madge. I was shocked to see Ralph's passing when I was on the internet. I really appreciated you and Ralph taking Sasha when I found out I was allergic to her. I think of her fondly, and missed her a lot, but felt better knowing she was with a very loving couple.

Olivier Lecarme

November 1, 2006

Although I never met Ralph Griswold in person, I exchanged a lot of snail- and e-mail with me, and he acted as an external advisor on two PhD theses I supervised. I have always been fascinated by his achievements in the area of programming languages which come orthogonally to all others.

Russ Urquhart

October 24, 2006

Please accept my condolensces.

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Griswold at the first Icebol convention. He was very nice and patient with me and all of us! I wish i had had the opportunity to take classes from him, but his works with Snobol continue to enrich my life.
May God Bless,

Russ Urquhart

Elizabeth (Shaw) Adams

October 12, 2006

Madge,
Saw the notice of Ralph's passing and wanted to send you my condolences. A voice from your past.

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Tom Hicks

October 7, 2006

Ralph was a wonderful teacher who left behind an enviable legacy; hundreds of students who were prepared and inspired to shape the world in which we live by pushing the frontiers of computer use, as he himself did. When I was an undergrad, Ralph took a chance on me and gave me a job working with him in the CS department. Later, as one of his
graduate students, he taught me that the best researchers are a combination of artist, craftsman, and progressive thinker.

Thank-you Ralph, for everything. You are missed.
-tom

Clinton Jeffery

October 6, 2006

It was a privilege to learn from such
an extraordinary man.

William Mitchell

October 6, 2006

I had the great fortune of working for Ralph as a graduate research assistant. I didn't realize it on my first day with him, but my education was just beginning.

In one of many meetings with him he patiently listened as I enumerated a list of potential enhancements for the Icon programming language. When done, he said, "Sure, go ahead with those..." As I rose to dash to the nearest keyboard, he finished his sentence: "...but for every feature you add, first find one to throw out." I couldn't find any.

He once said that on his first day at the University of Arizona, he arrived to find forty students outside his office waiting for advising. His office had a desk, but no chair.

Other than a few in my family, I owe him more than anyone else.

I surely miss him.

Lawrence Bezeau

October 6, 2006

Although I never met Ralph Griswold, he
had an enormous and positive influence
on how I spent my time, beginning in
the 1970s with SNOBOL4 and later with
the Icon programming language. I will
always be indebted to him.

Margaret Newman

October 6, 2006

Bye, Ralph! It was fun and interesting working for you. I won't ever forget cutting up pink sheets of paper for you for note-taking.

Hugs to Madge, too! My thoughts are with you.

Margaret

October 6, 2006

Anshul Pandey

Pat Pecoraro

October 5, 2006

Ralph,

Thanks for all your help over the years. Madge, my condolences.

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