H. Thomas Banks, the Leroy B. Martín Jr. Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University and Associate Director of the Center for Research for Research in Scientific Computation, passed away at the age of 79 on Tuesday, December 31st at home with family and friends after a two month struggle with a malignant brain tumor. He was born in Hickory, NC to John Henry Banks and Bernetta Banks. He is survived by his wife of 59 1/2 years, Faye Deal (Sue) Banks; son, John Edward Banks (Lou Ann Lyon) of Capitola, CA; daughter, Jennifer Banks Sasser (Gerry Sasser) of Fuquay Varina, NC; granddaughters, Samantha Banks recently of the Peace Corp in Senegal, Africa and Emilie Banks, Paris, France; sisters, Carolyn Banks Wilfong (Marvin) of Maiden, NC, Brenda Banks Cooley (Steve) of Murfreesboro, TN, and Margaret Banks Moore (Mike) of Maiden, NC; and many nieces and nephews.
H. Thomas attended Fred T. Foard High School, Newton, NC. He received his BS at North Carolina State in 1963, his Ph.D. at Purdue University in 1967. He spent 22 years at Brown University in Providence, RI and he spent time on sabbatical leave at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. He had guest appointments at the University of Utah and also at Paris VI, and he had a research appointment at ICASE (Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering) at the NASA Langley Research Center in VA for many years. He spent three years at the University of Southern California and 27 years at North Carolina State University.
During his career as a Professor and Researcher he had 79 graduate students and 28 post-docs, and published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers and technical reports. He truly enjoyed working with his students. Some of his awards and honors included SIAM W. T. and Idalia Reid Prize, Drexel Professor, Professor Honoraire, Universite Compeigne, France; IEEE Fellow; NCSU Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor; NCSU Alumni Outstanding Research Award; Purdue University Distinguished Alumni Award; Editorial Board, 14 journals in Applied Math and Biomath. President NCSU Sigma Xi Society.
Math was his hobby and career. He also enjoyed traveling and visited many countries of the world.
Thanks for all the prayers and the many friends and family that have stood by our side during this time and to a couple special angels, Jim McDonald and Junko Ito. Thanks to the special Therapists at WakeMed. Thanks to Brown-Wynne Funeral Home of Cary for assisting in arrangements.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 11th at 2 pm at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cary, NC. A reception will follow the service.
Memorial gifts can be made to the H. Thomas Banks Graduate Award Endowment at NCSU, Campus Box 8118, 4211 Broughton Hall, Raleigh, NC; Christ the King Lutheran Church, 600 Walnut Street, Cary, NC; the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical Center, DUMC Box 3624, O47 Baker House, Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710.
