Diane was an incredibly talented person who was ahead of her time. I met her at AT&T Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey in August, 1976. I had just started working at “The Labs,” and Diane was there on a temporary work assignment break from her Ph.D. studies at Stanford University. When she returned to Bell Labs the following year on another work assignment, we started dating. Two years after that, on November 17, 1976, we married.
As I said, Diane was incredibly talented. She began her college career at Stanford in 1971, and just six years later she earned a Ph.D. in Operations Research (applied math). Diane also immensely enjoyed sports. In addition to her basketball skills, she was an excellent tennis player, golfer, swimmer, skier, and football player. Yes, football player! Diane was the quarterback for her co-ed Stanford club football team.
At Bell Labs, Diane did ground-breaking work in packet network analysis for a project she proudly named PANDA. That project laid the groundwork for the digital communications technology we take for granted today. She also taught an in-house Bell Labs class in stochastic processes (probablility and random processes). I took the class. It was pretty dang tough.
Diane and I raised two outstanding children, Stacy and Aaron. We accomplished a lot of other good things together, too. Ultimately our marriage came to an end after 22 years. The marriage did not survive, but our friendship, respect, and mutual admiration did. I will never forget Diane. She accomplished so much in her life, and she established a powerful legacy for Stacy and Aaron, and for her grandchildren, Naijah and Alia.
Rest in Peace.
