For context, the School of Engineering Education is home to many firsts in what is still a relatively new scholarly field. Our faculty were creating and innovating early in our school’s history. During his tenure, Bob was part of the Department of Freshman Engineering established in 1953 and precursor to the program now known as First-Year Engineering, housed in the School of Engineering Education. Prior to his arrival, the Department of Freshman Engineering was a program of the “schools of engineering” that did not have dedicated faculty to teach the program’s courses; instead, faculty from the other schools of engineering had to be assigned to teach freshmen.

Under the direction of Dr. Richard Grace from 1981-1987, a historical shift took place in the department. When Dr. Grace hired Bob, he became the first faculty member to call Freshman Engineering his departmental home as an assistant professor. Bob and the other new faculty to follow essentially helped lay the groundwork for who we are today as a school with a permanent faculty and a scholarly mindset in engineering education. Bob was active within the American Society for Engineering Education community serving on committees and publishing on the first-year, learning to program, and the honors program.  As a senior professor, he encouraged the new faculty to engage in the larger engineering education community.  

Professors were also responsible for advising students with only one full-time academic advisor in the department. For over two decades of his tenure, Bob won numerous teaching and advising awards from the department and the college for his outstanding instruction and mentoring skills. In fact, his own motto “students first, no matter what” inspired our school’s mission that can be found on our website, to above all else seek to put students first in all we do.

^{Photo Circa 2002: The last photo taken of the Department of Freshman Engineering. Bob is featured on the slope in the back row, second from left.} 

Stories that embody his celebrated instruction have been shared broadly in the last week from our engineering alumni/ae. “Dr. Bob had such a profound effect on my life,” stated Dr. Matthew Verleger (’02 BSE Computer Engineering, ’05 MS Agricultural & Biological Engineering), a 2009 PhD graduate from our program. He had Bob for his first programming languages class. “He helped me fall in love with programming,” said Matthew. Bob then hired Matthew as his undergraduate teaching assistant. Under the care of his mentorship, Matthew also fell in love with teaching. “Those two skills are part of the core of who I am today. I can’t imagine who I would be without his mentorship and guidance when I was starting out. Because of him, I learned the skills that became the cornerstone of my career,” said Matthew, now an associate professor of engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Poetically, he now teaches introduction to programming for first-year engineers. 

^{Photo Circa 2005: Dr. Bob teaching freshman engineering in the Class of 1950.}

Wearing another hat, Bob will also be remembered for his leadership skills for implementing, directing, and teaching the first-year engineering honors program. What is now part of the Honors College, the first-year engineering honors program began under the direction of the Department of Freshman Engineering with Bob leading the way. It was in his persistent pursuit to recruit top engineering students that he created the Seminar for Top Engineering Prospects (STEP). With only a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still offered today with the same week-long summer residential opportunity for rising high school seniors to explore the many disciplines of engineering.

“The STEP program has not only introduced thousands of high school students to engineering but served to inspire innovations in teaching throughout the curriculum,” said Dr. Eric Nauman, Director of Honors Program and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Basic Medical Sciences. 

‘Influence’ also best describes the reflections of alumni/ae who attended the STEP program and knew Bob. Annika Schmierer (BSEE ECE ‘98) attended STEP in the summer of 1993. “I had attended three similar programs that summer and was pretty confident Purdue was my school of choice, but Dr. Bob and his program solidified my choice,” recalled Annika. “He was a unique person that genuinely put students first. He had such a tremendous impact on me that I can still hear his voice and laugh even though I haven’t talked with him directly in many years.”  (Read more of Annika’s tribute below and her remarkable history with Dr. Bob.)

Dave Montgomery, Bob’s middle son and friend to Annika, also shared personal accounts of he and his siblings applying and attending STEP with the intention of pursuing engineering. “A longstanding joke is that our dad accepted my brother and sister when it was their time. He denied me (chuckle!) but rightfully so. I knew I wasn’t a very good student and didn’t apply myself. He took his role very seriously and truly picked only the top deserving students.”

^{Photo Circa 1997: STEP high school recruits; Bob is featured in the front row, far right. His daughter Chrissy is in the second row, 7th from left.} 

Bob also mentored faculty. Dr. William Oakes, Director of EPICS and 150th Anniversary Professor of Engineering Education, shared that he learned the ropes from Bob as a new faculty member in the department. Fast forward with a new grant and the need for someone from Freshman Engineering to teach in the new EPICS program, Bob had been part of a team that wrote a successful proposal to add first-year students to EPICS.  He encouraged Bill to pursue teaching it. “I really wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for him,” said Bill. “Bob was such a great person and I enjoyed our time working together teaching and advising. He was the first person from our department who engaged in EPICS and selflessly turned the opportunity over to me.  It was after his encouragement that I ultimately started on that path.” Purdue EPICS, a service-learning design program, is a thriving program today under the direction of Dr. Oakes and has educated thousands of engineering students since 1995.

Note: Dr. Oakes is seated next to Bob (far left) on the engineering fountain in the second photo above. 

^{Photo: Dr. Bob with his wife Janice posing with the Boilermaker Special}

Bob retired from Purdue and put on a new hat as a civil engineer for the Indiana Department of Transportation. Most recently, he served as their Technical Services Director and his love of mentoring carried into his position working with Purdue interns. One individual recently shared on a Reddit thread about Bob’s passing that he met him at his first interview and first engineering job. “I remember being terrified… but he was such a nice guy. I remember him having the biggest smile every time he walked in. He loved to talk with interns about Purdue and his days there. [He] was a lovely man, and certainly had an influence on me.”

We are incredibly fortunate to have Bob as part of our history and in the fabric of the programs that will continue. As many have shared in the last few days, their pathways to engineering careers might not have been the same without the innovations of Dr. Bob Montgomery.

As implied about his many hats, he actually also wore a hat. The story behind the hat is shared below.

Family and Friends' Reflections

The story behind his hat

Shared by his daughter Chrissy

“One of my favorite memories.... my dad had skin cancer, so he was known for always wearing a hat. On this day, we had rented a pontoon in Texas. The wind blew his hat off, so we had to turn around and get it. Rob got it, and promptly put the soaking wet hat right back on Dad’s head. Dad just laughed and laughed afterwards.” 

My Experience with Dr. Bob

Annika Schmierer
BSEE 1998

Bob's impact on me didn’t stop at STEP, he was even more supportive after I arrived at Purdue.  Even though I was not in the honors program, we stayed in touch.  Back then, it was infamous that one instructor in one of our large classes would say “look to your left and look to your right and only one of you will graduate in engineering”.  I had finally met my match when I hit my first Calculus and Chemistry classes.  It wasn’t until I had reached college and did extremely poorly on these tests in large auditoriums with a couple hundred students that I realized I had a learning disability.  I was on academic probation after the first semester and 1800 miles away from home. I might have become part of that statistic were it not for Dr. Bob and the Women In Engineering freshman seminars.  I was able to get the proper diagnosis and then work with Purdue to get accommodations on test taking environments.

I did go on to graduate from Purdue with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1998.  I was thrilled to be in the second year of the EPICS program and have been a huge proponent of service learning ever since.

Dr. Bob will forever be part of my Purdue experience and I can imagine his imprint on thousands of Purdue Engineers is making this world a better place.  Thanks to his family for sharing such an amazing human with the rest of us.

^{Photo: Annika Schmierer}

Additional Reading: Dr. Montgomery's Obituary