TFBCON2003 (Students)

David Peck '99 Professor Banchoff was an important factor in my decision to study at Brown University. Shortly after receiving my acceptance letter from Brown, I received an unexpected phone call from Tom, who I had never met before. We discussed opportunities for study and employment at Brown University. The thought that a professor would call a matriculating freshman — unasked! — to discuss this was astonishing. Once I arrived at Brown, Tom continued to show the enthusiasm and concern for me that he had during that first phone call. I was soon to learn that this was the same enthusiasm Tom showed for all of his students: a rare trait for an academic of Tom's stature. Especially during my freshman and sophomore years, Tom was an important mentor, employer, and teacher to me. While there is much I could say about my summer internship with Tom, one thing in particular has always stuck: I remember playing Scrabble. I believe David Jelenick initiated the habit, but Tom, Dave Akers, Sylvia Smullin and myself were enthusiastic supporters of the cause. The fun couldn't last forever: in a twelve hour period, Professor Banchoff memorized a sizable portion of the official Scrabble dictionary. I won't detail the embarrassment that ensued the next time Banchoff challenged his interns to a game! — David Peck October 2003 David finished in Mathematics and Computer Science at Brown. He took differential geometry from Banchoff his freshman year, and later worked with with David Akers and David Jelinek on the design of interactive geometry courses. Since leaving Brown, David has started his own software company, EQuill, that eventually was aquired by Miscrosoft. His web home page includes some of the details, and an on-line journal of interesting events.

TFBCON2003 Web Pages Created: 11 Oct 2003 Last modified: Oct 27, 2003 6:46:50 PM Comments to: dpvc@union.edu

Steve Ritter '85 Student Assistants of TFB Masi Oka '97