Robert "Bob" Richard Read, Ph.D.

Bob was born in Columbus, Ohio on October 5, 1929. He graduated from Columbus North High School, received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 1951 from Ohio State University, and received a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1958. Dr. Read was a professor emeritus of the Naval Postgraduate School where he taught mathematical statistics for 43 years between 1961 and 2004. Prior to his tenure at the school, Dr. Read spent one year as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago in 1961 and three years as a lecturer and research statistician at the University of California Berkeley from 1957 to 1960.

During his tenure at the Naval Postgraduate School, he was prominent in enabling the rapid growth of the Operations Research Program by developing many new courses, sharpening the interface of research with the Masters' degree program, and structuring the Ph.D. program. He participated in numerous Department of Defense and Navy research projects. Over the years, Dr. Read contributed articles to various scholarly journals including the prestigious Transactions of the American Mathematical Society and the Annals of Mathematical Statistics. Early in his career, he consulted for the Maritime Cargo Transportation Conference in San Francisco, which was sponsored by the National Academy of Science, National Research Council. He performed further consultation work with the United Technology Center in Sunnyvale, California. Additionally, he was a longtime member of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the American Statistical Association, and Sigma Xi. Dr. Read has been notably cited in Who’s Who in America, as well as more than a dozen editions of Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in the West, and Who’s Who in the World. Dr. Read has been endorsed by Marquis Who’s Who as a leader in the fields of mathematics and higher education. For many years, Dr. Read has also been cited in the Harvard University sponsored American Men of Science.

At age sixteen, Bob played first chair trumpet in the Columbus High School All-City Band. He sang in his high school chorus, the Ohio State University Chorus, and later in the choir at the Carmel Presbyterian Church. Bob began barbershop singing with the Barbershop Harmony Society while he was a doctoral student at Cal Berkeley. He spent three years with the Berkeley Californians (chapter chorus) where he participated in the winning of the 1957 International Barbershop Chorus championship. He continued barbershop singing after joining the Navy School faculty and later sang for over a dozen years as a member of the Monterey Peninsula Cypressaires.

Bob’s other hobbies included golf, bridge, and skiing. He spent a year (1948) in formal duplicate bridge competition, earning an international match point. For a dozen years, he coached baseball teams for the local Pony-Colt youth league.

Those that were friends, or lucky to just know Bob, respected his intellect, knowledge of sports and general trivia, love of music, storytelling, jokes, and passion for life. Bob is survived by his children Christopher Read, Steven Read, and Darren Read.

A Celebration of Bob’s Life will be held at a date and place to be announced at a later time.