University Of Delaware: In Memoriam: Guang Gao

Press release from the University of Delaware:

Article by College of Engineering staff

September 22, 2021

Computer engineering pioneer remembered as dedicated scholar

Guang Gao, an internationally recognized scholar and Endowed Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the University of Delaware Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, passed away on Sept. 12, 2021.

Dr. Gao was an award-winning researcher, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) fellow and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) fellow who excelled in the areas of compilers technology, high-performance computing, dataflow models, and architectures for supercomputing and parallel systems. But it was his deep passion for education and research, met with his unmatched enthusiasm to pass on his love of learning, that left a mark on his many colleagues and students.

Most recently, Dr. Gao was a Named Professor Emeritus and the founding director of Computer Architecture and Parallel System Laboratory (CAPSL) in ECE. This past August, Dr. Gao was interviewed as one of the early pioneers in parallel processing at the 50th anniversary of the International Conference of Parallel Processing. Little did anyone know that this would become a very precious recording.

“To me, Dr. Guang Gao always sounded like the last of a generation of ‘old school’ professors—the kind that always took his responsibility as an ‘elder of the village’ very seriously,” said Babtunde (Tunde) Ogunnaike, former dean of the College of Engineering. “Gao, as he was known by everyone, always treated contemporaries with respect, and junior faculty as colleagues. He was universally respected and admired in the community at large, and one of my deepest regrets is that, try as we might, we were never able to get him a well-deserved election into the National Academy of Engineering. His generosity of soul enriched our community, and we will miss him greatly.”

In 2007, Dr. Gao was elected as both an IEEE fellow and ACM fellow, and in 2013 he won the Overseas Outstanding Contribution Award of the China Computer Federation (CCF). He also was the recipient of the 2017 IEEE Computer Society (CS) B. Ramakrishna Rau Technical Award “for contributions to compiler techniques and microarchitectures for instruction-level and thread-level parallel computing.” In addition, he won the Gauss Award, which honors the most outstanding research paper in the field of high-performance computing (HPC), in 2011.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Dr. Gao was dedicated to reaching out to new generations of undergraduate and high school students, constantly encouraging them to pursue STEM careers. 

“For me, Gao was more than my adviser,” said Jose M. Monsalve Diaz, one of the last students who graduated under Prof. Gao. “He was a close friend that I highly admired. He completely shaped my professional development, encouraging me to always think outside of the box, even if that meant to go against mainstream ideas in the field.”

Diaz said Dr. Gao always offered excellent advice and could recall papers and references from many years past when answering questions, as if he were a walking library.

“To this day, I am surprised by how deep his thoughts were, and how much he cared about answering the most difficult questions in our field,” Diaz said.

Dr. Gao’s extensive knowledge in his field would often lead to complete history lessons on a topic, until those asking would have to say, “No space, stop!” said ECE Associate Prof. Xiaoming Li.

“He was also an exceptionally warm adviser to his students,” Li said. “Over the years, I had never seen him show frustration around students. Even long after graduation, many of his students are still close to him. And I know some always see him as a fatherly figure.”

Prof. Gao spent his last days doing what he loved, working on his lifetime book on dataflow, counseling students, discussing research topics with colleagues and spending time with his two granddaughters.

“He never relented,” said Rudi Eigenmann, professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Long after his retirement and only a few months before his last breath, he still asked us to write new NSF proposals with him.”

Dr. Gao’s impact was felt deeply not only by the students he taught or the research colleagues he mentored, but by anyone who was met by his genuine kindness as he walked through the corridors of Evans Hall. Previous and current staff members recalled many different instances when his kindness and concern for others was the first thing on his agenda. Whether it was scheduling time for an appointment to talk about work issues or just to say hi, his first statement was usually a gracious “I don’t want to take too much of your time.”

“Dr. Gao was a luminary at the University of Delaware who shaped our department and activity in computer engineering. He did what he loved, and a large part of that was mentoring students and faculty over the span of decades, and well beyond retirement,” said one of his newest colleagues, ECE Chairperson Jamie Phillips. “As I started as department chair, I sincerely hoped to get perspectives of alumni and emeritus faculty to help guide future directions. Not only was he eager to lend a hand, but he arranged a call 11 days before my start date to introduce himself, wish me luck in my new role and to ask, ‘How can I help you and the ECE department?’ I explained how much I would value his input, and within a few hours, he sent me a copy of detailed meeting notes of our conversation and some suggestions going forward. Since that time, we continued to engage in regular conversations to share news on department activities and to hear his perspectives. That gives a brief window into Dr. Gao's enthusiasm, dedication and selfless way of helping others.”

As the engineering community mourns his loss, a common thread continues to emerge: That even with his international recognition for his science and intellect, it is Dr. Gao’s kindness, gentle manner and perseverance that will not be forgotten.

“Dr. Gao was a kind man who truly cared about his many graduate students,” said Gwen Looby, academic adviser in the department. “It was always a pleasure to interact with him. The affection and respect that his students had for him was obvious.”

For details on Dr. Gao’s memorial service or to leave condolences online, visit everloved.com/life-of/guang-gao. A campus memorial service will be held at a later date.

This press release was produced by the University of Delaware. The views expressed here are the author’s own.