Leonard J. Garrett

In high school, Len was the quintessential student-athlete. Although, he would consider himself more of an athlete-student. While his academic ability was impressive, he'd choose time on the basketball court over cracking his books any day. He worked just hard enough at his beloved Central High to ensure he never missed out on any sports privileges. In his senior year at Central, he was named to the Philadelphia All-Public High School Basketball Team. When he graduated from Central in 1944, he received a basketball scholarship to Temple University, as well as an appointment to West Point Military Academy. He deferred the West Point appointment and entered Temple on the Pre-Med track. He had no idea that his future would have him becoming an esteemed professor and starting an entirely new academic department at Temple University.

In 1945, Len's Temple days were interrupted when he was called to active duty in the Army Air Corps. When the war ended, Len entered West Point in 1946. He graduated in 1950 with a BS in Engineering and was assigned to Fort Monmouth in the Signal Corps for Signal training. At Fort Monmouth, Len wore many hats and had many responsibilities, including being a platoon leader for World Series pitching legend Whitey Ford. Len made sure the reporters constantly surrounding Whitey weren't too much of a distraction. Len was the last of his classmates to leave Fort Monmouth. He was assigned to take command of the communications center in Berlin, Germany. There he was among those who handled all communications traffic from Moscow, Berlin and various other parts of Europe to the US zone of Germany and to the United States. After spending two years in Berlin, he returned home and said goodbye to his military days.

Back in Philadelphia, Len took a job at RCA doing research in the development of special radio filters to replace quartz crystals. His work at RCA gave him his first introduction to computers. In 1955, Len enrolled as a statistics/management major in the MBA program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. While at Wharton, Len was in a meeting with a fellow West Point graduate who was the head salesman for Remington Rand Univac. He was looking for somebody with Len's background in engineering and business to do programming work on the Univac. While in grad school, Len spent many nights at the Univac assembly plant at 19th and Allegheny between the hours of 3am-6am teaching himself Univac programming. Len's impressive career with computers and programming was off and running. With his self-taught programming skills, Len was an invaluable resource for the Wharton School when Penn got its Univac. After receiving his MBA, he was appointed as a Research Associate and remained at Wharton. At this time, he began his doctoral program at Penn, while also introducing computers to classes at Wharton. As Wharton embraced computers more and more, Len did technical work in business applications and education. He designed and wrote the first Wharton Management Game, wrote programs to support academic projects in the College of Liberal Arts, and worked with colleagues in the Moore School of Electrical Engineering on proposals for grants. As if that wasn't enough, Len started to do some computer consulting in business systems and did research in computer simulations.

In 1961, Len received his PhD in Economics/Management from the College of Liberal Arts and was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management. His dissertation was a computer simulation of business decision making. He spent his next four years at Penn developing and teaching computer oriented classes for business applications. He was unique at the time because he was skilled in both the technical aspects of computing and their application to business and government problems. Given his unique skill set, Len was in high demand to do consulting work with industry leaders including Allied Chemical Corporation, Sandia Corp (a subsidiary of Western Electric which did atomic weapons design), Bell Telephone, US Steel, New York City Transit Authority and many others.

In 1965, while Len was a devoted husband to his beloved wife Judy, and the loving and wonderful father of his two young children, Robert and Susan, he had a third "child" that he conceived, parented and mentored into adulthood without his family. This "baby" of his is the Computer Science department at Temple University. Temple University offered Len the job of Director of the University's Program for Computer Research and Education. He was charged with both developing the University's administrative computer facilities and application, and starting an academic program. His first two years in the job were devoted to selecting a computer system, designing a center to house it, and to promote the idea of a University Academic Program centered around computing. Suffice it to say, that there were many challenges, twists and turns, and meetings leading up to the official announcement of the Department of Computer and Information Science in 1968. The first degree program was an undergraduate program in the School of Business Management. The department grew rapidly under Len's tutelage and soon a computer major was offered in Temple's MBA program. The department continued to develop and thrive and in short order offered a Masters Program in Computer Science and ultimately a PhD program.

While the tenured faculty in Len's department was expected to do some research and writing, their main focus was on teaching. Teaching information science required experience in the data processing world. Len built a faculty that combined real-world experience and technical depth. The impressive number of instructional books published by his faculty, including textbooks that he authored, and the high hiring rate of graduates of his department's programs is a testament to Len's vision, leadership and stewardship. Without Len's brilliance, unique background, patience, and resilience, the Temple Department of Computer and Information Science would not be the strong, highly-regarded program that it is today.

Len's personal and family life was as rich and rewarding as his exceptional career. He absolutely cherished his home life and felt that any time spent with Judy, Robert and Susan was time very well spent. He loved special events celebrated under his roof. He never missed an opportunity to play with his kids when they were young, and supported their every pursuit and interest as they grew. Len treasured his summers, as his workload lightened and he had more time to be together at home and on vacation with the people he adored most. Len was a gardener, a builder, a fixer of all things large and small in his home, a puzzle solver, a voracious reader, and a wonderfully fun-loving person to be around. He and Judy delighted in their Friday lunches and traveling the countryside.

Len is survived by a large, loving family who miss him dearly. They all consider themselves lucky to have been a part of his life and cherish his love and support which has made them all wiser, stronger, and happier.

A memorial gathering for Len will be held Tuesday, March 7, 2023 from 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM at Lamb Funeral Home Inc., 101 Byberry Road, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania 19006. A memorial service will occur Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 9:00 AM, 101 Byberry Road, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania 19006. An inurnment will occur Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 11:00 AM at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Road, Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.lambfuneralhomeinc.com for the Garrett family.