Dr. Bob Borchers, a leader in the high performance computing community for decades, passed away peacefully in Maui, Hawaii, on June 7th. His memorial service will be held on June 22nd in Reston, Virginia.
Dr. Borchers was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1936. He earned a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame in 1958 and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1962, both in physics. Thereafter, he was appointed to the physics faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and then was appointed Associate Dean for Physical Sciences, then Director of the Physical Sciences Laboratory, then Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
His career took him to the University of Colorado, Bolder, and then to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he held a variety of leadership posts and was a founder of the annual supercomputing conferences. In 1993, he was selected as the Director of the Division of Advanced Scientific Computing at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where his leadership contributed to numerous high performance computing programs and organizations nationwide. After eight years at the NSF he became the Chief Technology Officer of the Maui High Performance Computing Center at the University of Hawaii.
Dr. Borchers received numerous professional honors and awards, including an award for meritorious executive service (Presidential Rank) for his work at the National Science Foundation.
Equally remarkable was his life outside his profession. A devoted family man, he donated his time and talent to many charitable causes in every city where he lived. He was preceded in death by his wife Bridget H. Borchers and his parents. He is survived by his sisters, Judith lee Borchers, Amy (Tom) Ewert; his children, Patrick J. Borchers, Anne (Kent) Borchers Meyer, Robert E. (Beth) Borchers; his dear friend Leila Keese; 12 grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In his honor, his family suggests memorials to the Hawaii Island Volcano Relief Fund or the American Red Cross.