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Yalda Sadiq, Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/6/07 Section: News
A memorial service was held on Feb. 1 for computer science professor Peter Alan Laszlo who died Jan. 19 of pneumonia at age 65. "He was the best teacher," said Chung Lee, a computer science professor. "He gave inspiration to students seeking high level of intellect." The College of Science conference room was heavily crowded with family members, colleagues, alumni and students at the service.
Laszlo suf2007-05-21d quickly, according to Craig Rich, computer science professor and friend of Laszlo since 1988. He was hospitalized in mid-December for pneumonia, which was caused by complications from the stroke, according to the Laszlo family. "Despite the fact that he was identified upon admission, there subsequently was some confusion regarding his identity and status, resulting in the lack of any notification to family or associates until he was reported missing by Cal Poly after the beginning of winter classes," said the Laszlo family.
The confusion was due to the fact that Laszlo was not able to communicate clearly with the hospital staff. The school filed a missing person's report with the Pomona Police Department after they were not able to reach him and he wasn't present in the beginning of winter quarter. At the memorial, Rich opened the remembrance by sharing his memories of Laszlo, followed by former chairs, dean and Laszlo's brothers. Winston Laszlo, Peter Laszlo's brother, moved the room to tears by sharing their childhood memories of creating a haunted house for Halloween that became a hit in their neighborhood. Many colleagues and students remember him as a genius who set the standards high. "He was a mathematical genius, smartest of all of us," said Rich who knew Laszlo for 19 years. "He wanted people to do it on their own and pull their own weight." Students agree that he was demanding and held everyone to the same high standards. "He wanted students to take initiative in their learning," said Heath Caldwell a 2005 computer science alumnus. "He would point you in the right direction then expect you to do it."
Laszlo received his Bachelor of Science from Caltech in 1962 in math, his Masters of Science and PhD in math from UCLA. He joined Cal Poly in 1976 where he was one of the co-founders of the CS department. Many professors taught themselves computer science because it was new in the 1970's, according to Yang. "He learned computer science himself and he learned it deeply," said Brum, who calculates Laszlo taught about 10,000 students during his career at Cal Poly Pomona. He loved teaching and he treated his classroom like a theatre. Starting 1976 until Fall 2006, he taught three classes every quarter, a full load, said Rich. "He told me he was never going to retire," said Rich. "He wanted to die teaching in front of a class."
Sometimes he would be so much into the lecture that he wouldn't stop to get an eraser. He would just erase the board with his hands, according to Rich. "Using his hand with the chalkboard was most memorable," said Arion Gnotta, a 2004 computer science alumnus. Rich remembers him as a unique person who ate the most exotic foods, such as sushi before it was mainstream. He didn't care much for his appearance, lived in a motel, had a beat-up car that was probably not registered and ran out of gas midway, but he depended on the CHP to give a gallon of gas on the freeway. He also didn't really prepare for his lectures. "But he gave excellent lectures off the cuff," said Rich. Students appreciated his demanding curriculum because they learned so much from him. "He set the bar way up in the sky. But when it was all said and done, it was phenomenal how much you learned," said Michael Greenstein, vice president of CS club. "I admire his intelligence," said Lee. "He wanted people to judge and think so they could be creative."
Winston Laszlo spoke of his brother's intentional social distance he kept from others. "He didn't let anyone get close to him intimately and that's what killed him," said Laszlo. Peter Laszlo's colleagues also mentioned he put up a barrier socially, but was starting to change. "Last year, he tried to be more social and meet more people," said Lee. Despite earning so much respect from his department, he sometimes got in trouble for failing to meet deadlines for turning in his grades, not holding office hours, losing his office keys more than a dozen times and being a pack rat so much so that his office was declared a fire hazard, according to Rich.
Laszlo's body was cremated and there are not any immediate plans for funeral services. Because he considered his students and colleagues his family, the memorial service on campus "was quite poignant and appropriate," said the Laszlo family. The Laszlo family and the school are in the talks to have a "permanent or perpetual" memorial in his honor. Peter Laszlo is survived by his two brothers, Winston and Larry, his sister Vicki and his nieces and nephews.
