Goodbye, Greg
Greg Steffan was my absolute favourite prof in undergrad. He taught, among others, my favourite class: Computer Organization (microprocessor architecture and assembly programming).
He always had a different way to explain things when people had trouble. His course notes were so good you didn’t need to attend lectures. But you did, anyway, because he taught with such clarity and enthusiasm.
After being diagnosed with ADHD after the train wreck that was my first attempt at second year, it was his class that began a series of nearly or exactly 4.0 GPA years.
When you averaged my undergrad grades, it still wasn’t the greatest picture, but with a letter from Greg and a couple of others, I was accepted into a non-thesis Masters. The summer just before I started, it was Greg who hinted that he didn’t have funding for a grad student THAT semester. So, I took one of his classes with the intent of impressing the fuck out of him.
He took me on for a thesis second semester.
Under Greg, I was published, attended conferences (the furthest in Romania) and did some really cool research that got the attention of people I had only read about with interest.
I met Greg’s lovely wife and young child (didn't have a chance to meet his newest). Found him as compelling a husband and father as I knew him to be as a thesis supervisor.
I tell you all this so that you will know how much of a loss everyone he’s mentored feels after his passing on Wednesday, just a month shy of his 42nd birthday.
Greg, you will be missed. Missed because while we had you, your time was well-spent not only advancing the state of the art in computer engineering, but also in driving so many others to great success.