Skip to main content

A Very Sad Day

I just got the news from my Akron roommate that our Master's advisor Dr. Glen Njus passed away. This is really upsetting and sad. He had done so much for us when we initially landed here in 2002. He took us under this tutelage and we worked in his lab for 2 years.

His teaching skills weren't the most exemplary as he hated teaching in a classroom setting. He loved spending time in his lab at Akron General Medical Center, reaching early to start working and on most days skipping lunch. Multiple cups of black coffee and cigarettes did the trick for him. He was very supportive and tried his best to fund and educate us.

He once told us (when we were vary of graduating without a job in hand), that we must graduate on time because that was what we initially came to the US for. Graduating on time under him was a must and he made sure of that. He gave us full freedom to execute and finish our project/thesis on time and helped whenever we hit roadblocks. I even got my first position at Theken based on his recommendation although his name never featured while I started working there. I just know he probably put his weight behind my internship there. I can't thank him enough for this.

A gem of a person and a man of very few words. Few things got him to talk at length, especially his younger years in Iowa and how old times in America were. He must have been hardly 55 or 56. His death is untimely.

He was very much injury prone and once had taken a fall from a ladder while working at his home. His head was injured and while we visited him in the hospital during his treatment, he did not even recognize us. That was a scary moment for us. He recovered from that fall very quickly and resumed work within couple of months.

We last met at Suneel and Sindhu's wedding party in 2006, a day before Kirti and I were to move to Chicago. We talked at length with him and he wished us well and asked me to stay in touch. But as the distance grew, we lost touch and I never contacted him since 2006.

I am indebted to him big time and just lost a great teacher. May his soul rest in peace.

R.I.P Dr.Njus

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday Night Update

Watched the first presidential debate on friday night between John McCain and Barack Obama. Good timepass on a friday night, if you are into these things. I have been taking a keen interest in politics lately and it keeps the clock ticking for me after I reach home from work.  I am particularly annoyed and irritated at both these candidates on the Iraq war for always ignoring the fact that over 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives. What wrong did they do? And there aren't too many news outlets that are willing to show the plight of (Iraqi) families who lost near and dear ones. That's obvious, isn't it? Barack Obama looks confident and ready moreso that John McCain to lead the United States for the next 4 years. Looking forward to the Joe Biden - Sarah Palin debate this coming thursday. Should be interesting to see Palin talk extempore without a teleprompter.  Back to some sunday night news here. For the first time in few years since I started following football, I felt bore...

Please Help

While I have been blogging for nearly 2 years now and that visitors (like you) are fairly low in number, I would still like to know who you are. Although I know one of my UA friend is a regular here (and yes, it is you Hari), I don't know who are the other frequent fliers. If you choose to remain anonymous, that is also fine, but kindly leave a comment or two in the message box that is on the right side of the webpage. I am trying to get a feel for how often do you stop by. The reason I am asking you to do this is because I need your help. No, it has nothing to do with donations or anything monetary, but here I am in my third month in Bangalore and I am absolutely bored. I need some suggestions to utilize my time efficiently and effectively. Please refrain from suggesting using the gym or joining a book club. These 2 are not my cuppa tea. My mind is 100% blank about extra-curricular activities and I need some 'external' help. One of my closest friends had suggested joining...

To Quit Or Not To Quit

Damn, its getting increasingly frustrating at work. May 8th was the last day I did anything significant to talk about. My current project is extremely slow and I am dreading the day when we all get the boot from here with no new projects in sight. It was all quite hunky dory last April when I had joined Wipro for this project. Hectic training schedules, new and exciting challenges at work, more people interaction, non-stop action in terms of protocols, component testing and reports. April to October was the golden period in terms of real and satisfying work experience gained. November 2007 was the start of Leads work for me and it has been slow ever since. Very recently have I started thinking about looking for another job, which if I get one, would be my fifth in four years. A dubious distinction to have in a short career span. Stability is one thing that I haven't had in any of my previous jobs. Complaints about pay, increasingly boring work combined with a weak growth outlook w...