One of the first scientists to move into National Center for Atmospheric Research’s new Mesa Laboratory in 1967, John was a pioneer in the field that became computer science. He was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the son of Mitchell Joseph Gary and Helen Grace (Schmauss) Gary and attended high school and Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He graduated with a doctoral degree in Mathematics from the University of Michigan and taught at the California Institute of Technology and Harvey Mudd College in California. He spent three years at the New York University Courant Institute exploring how to harvest the abilities of electronic computers and was recruited from there to work at NCAR.
He moved to Boulder Colorado in 1963 starting at NCAR as a mathematician and later becoming the Computer Center Director. Initially stored in heavy boxes of punch cards, the programs he and his collaborators wrote helped transform meteorology and weather prediction. He moved on to be a Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado and later at the Colorado School of Mines. He left academia and was a Senior Mathematician at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, modeling advanced cryogenics and other technologies, from which he retired in 1999. He continued to do research in retirement, including the design of cooling systems for neutron generators used in cancer therapy and materials analysis.
John married his wife Marilyn (Shikles) in Pasadena, California in 1959. They had two sons: James (deceased) and Charles. He is survived by: his wife Marilyn, son Charles (daughter-in-law Olga), grandsons,Cyril (wife Claudia Ruiz) and Nicholas and two sisters, Shirley (William) Dunkin and Kali Lightfoot. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Donations may be made to Community Foundation Boulder County.
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