BORN: November 16, 1940
DIED: October 28, 2018

Tony Gorry died in Houston after a long illness.

Born in Glens Falls, NY, he prepared for Yale at Glens Falls High School. As a Chemical Engineering major he was on the Dean’s List and a Ranking Scholar and he held T.A.D.Jones and National Scholarships. As an active member of Jonathan Edwards, he served as Council president, athletic aid, and captain of the JE basketball team, as well as a member of Beta Theta Pi. Tony was the finest epitome of the scholar-athlete, lettering in football and baseball, and graduating as a member of the engineering honor society Tau Theta Pi. He roomed with Ed Hard and Mike Houlahan, who died in 2003.

After Yale he earned an MS in chemical engineering at Berkeley, and then in 1967 the first doctorate awarded at MIT in computer science. Before moving to Houston in 1975 he stayed on at MIT to teach. At the Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University he held numerous positions including serving as vice president of information technology at both, on the Baylor neuroscience faculty. At Rice he had a dual appointment in the schools of engineering and business, and he also founded and directed the Keck Center for Computational Biology, and the Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning.

To quote further from the Houston Chronicle: “Tony was a nationally recognized scholar with extensive publications in technology, knowledge management, education, applied mathematics, artificial intelligence and clinical decision-making. His prodigious academic accomplishments mirror his contributions beyond the academy, where he consulted, founded several businesses, and serve on corporate boards. He retires from Rice in 2016 as the Friedkin Professor Emeritus of Management. He was a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics.”

He ran the Houston Marathon in a quick 2:37, loved the Rice Owls baseball team. Read the classics in ancient Greek and in 2007 published a memoir entitled Memory’s Encouragement. He was a hilarious storyteller, witty up to his final moments. He was a visionary who inspired the paths of man students, friends and colleagues. He made everyone feel valued and important, beloved by all who knew him. There were many loving comments directed to his family.

He is survived by his wife Anne, and his daughters, April, Kate, and Meghan.
 

— John Harger Stewart