Robert Desmond King

Professor Robert D. ("Bob") King, long-time professor at UT-Austin and Founding Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, passed away peacefully July 6, 2023.

Bob was born November 25, 1936 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, second son of Desmond and Marguerite King. Bob thrived in his small-town Southern community, full of family, friends, dogs, and pleasures of the outdoors. He remained proud of his Southern roots.

Bob studied mathematics at Georgia Tech where he serendipitously learned about studying abroad. That changed the course of his life. Bob applied for and won one of the few study-abroad fellowships available at Georgia Tech. He would find his linguistic footing during a year of study at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. After fourteen months abroad he returned to Georgia Tech, earning a mathematics degree in 1959.

After Bob did his military service he then went to work for IBM at Cape Canaveral. The Cape was an exciting place to be in those early days of the space program and though he enjoyed the mathematical work, it was not his passion. Based on his strength in the German language, Bob enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in 1961, discovering a passion for linguistics with an emphasis on Germanic studies. He later added a deep interest in the Yiddish language and Jewish culture. Wisconsin offered Bob an opportunity to do overseas linguistic fieldwork in 1963, and he stumbled into another lifelong passion, India.

Bob left Wisconsin in 1965 with an M.A. in German literature and a Ph.D. in German linguistics. He arrived at the University of Texas, where he rose through the ranks in the usual way—learning to teach well and writing a book and articles, mostly on theoretical linguistics. Bob got into administration in 1974, appointed as associate dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (he became its dean in 1976). In 1979 —the College of Liberal Arts was formed out of the smaller colleges, serving as dean until 1990.

From 1994-98 he served as Chairman of the Department of Linguistics but otherwise he devoted himself to teaching, mostly of undergraduates. Bob was a fantastic teacher, turning introduction to linguistics into a popular course and creating a unique class on espionage. In 2011, he retired and continued to publish.

By some distance however his greatest pleasure in retirement was his family: his daughter Irene Neumann, son-in-law Jorg Neumann and their twin daughters Isabel and Sophia; his son Kevin, daughter-in-law Sarah King and their children Taylor, Kathryn, and Jonathan; and his son Michael who moved to Austin in 2021 and provided a tremendous support to his parents. No man ever had greater joy in his children and grandchildren than did Bob. Almost their equal in his affections were his dogs. Bob was a dog-lover of the highest order; he knew the name of every dog in the neighborhood. Bob also delighted in cooking throughout his life, and family and friends were often gifted amazing dinners that Bob prepared.

Bob was married to Karen for over 50 years. She took part in his adventures, was his travel mate, his guiding sun, eased his life as his health made ordinary tasks harder, stood with him in the tough times, and laughed with him in the good times. Bob would have been the first to say that Karen was the best thing that happened to him in his 80+ years. Besides his immediate family, he is survived by his brother, David King and nieces Nancy Ward and Patti Behar. A memorial appreciation of his life will take place in the fall.