George Robert Blakley Jr.

1932 - 2018

BLAKLEY Jr., George Robert May 6, 1932 - Dec. 10, 2018 George Robert (Bob) Blakley, Jr. passed away on Monday, December 10 at his home in Austin. George Robert (Bob) Blakley, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois to Gladys Baechle Blakley and George Robert Blakley. He attended St. Ignatius Loyola College Prep in Chicago, Illinois, and upon graduation attended Georgetown University, earning an A.B. in Physics, magna cum laude. After graduation, Bob attended graduate classes at Northwestern University, and then moved from Chicago to Washington DC to enroll in the University of Maryland, College Park, from which he received the PhD in Mathematics. While attending Maryland, Bob worked as a mathematician and computer programmer at the US National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. After earning his PhD, Bob did Postdoctoral Research at Cornell University for the Office of Naval Research, and then at the Harvard University department of Mathematics for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He was named Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and subsequently became Associate Professor of Mathematics at SUNY Buffalo; later in his career he spent a sabbatical as Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Wright State University. Bob was hired at Texas A&M University in 1970 as Chair of the Mathematics Department and a full professor. He stepped down as department chair in 1977, but continued to teach and research in the fields of Mathematics and Cryptography until his retirement from Texas A&M in 2014, after which he served as Professor Emeritus. In 2001, the Faculty of Information Technology at Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, Australia, awarded Bob an honorary Doctorate in recognition of his contributions to mathematics, cryptography, and information security. Among Bob's many achievements were: Fellow and Board Member of the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR), Lifetime member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Program Chair at the International Cryptology Conference ("Crypto"). Bob's best known work is the "Blakley secret sharing scheme" which is widely taught in mathematical cryptography classes worldwide, and is used to protect the security of critical infrastructure and national security systems. His lifelong love of mathematics, cryptography, physics and astronomy was only exceeded by his loyalty and dedication to his family. He was married for 61 years to Virginia Blakley (nee Clarke), and will be deeply missed by his wife, his children, and his grandchildren. Bob was preceded in death by his father George Robert Blakley, his mother Gladys Baechle Blakley, his brother David Blakley, his beloved cousin Maureen Breen Putnam, and many uncles including his lifelong friends Thomas and Rich Blakley. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Virginia; his son George Robert (Bob) Blakley III and wife Karen Hejtmancik Blakley, daughter Cynthia Wilcox and husband Charles Wilcox, daughter Lydia Fiedler and husband Paul Fiedler; grandchildren Sean Blakley and wife Amber Trueblood, and daughter Laura Blakley; cousins Thomas Reppetto, Nancy Breen Johnson, Carolyn Baechle, Rosalyn Baechle and Nancy Baechle, and many other cousins. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bob's honor to the Wounded Warrior Project at this link: https://bit.ly/2EmxODl