Cox, Jerome 'Jerry' Rockhold Jr.

Jerry - an American computer scientist and pioneer, entrepreneur, and retired Washington University Computer Science Chair - died January 17, 2023, in St Louis surrounded by his loving family. He was 97. Jerry was born in Washington D.C. on May 24, 1925, and grew up in South Bend, Indiana. He served in the Army in World War II from August 1943 - August 1944. Jerry attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned bachelor's (1947), master's (1949), and doctor of science (1954) degrees in electrical engineering with an emphasis in acoustics. He was married to Barbara Lueders (Bobby) on September 2, 1951. Jerry began his career in 1952 as the Director of Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His research centered on industrial noise exposure and the potential impact on worker hearing loss. This work included the first longitudinal study of audiometric histories of employees in industrial noise. In 1955, Jerry was recruited by Hallowell Davis to leave Boston and come to Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) in St. Louis. Davis, Director of Research at CID, challenged Jerry to implement an idea for measuring hearing in infants. In 1961, Jerry and his graduate student, A. Maynard Engrebretson, designed and built a special-purpose digital computer used by Davis to pioneer the field of early detection of deafness. This research has since led to mandated screening tests for newborn infants throughout the United States. He contributed significantly to the areas of biomedical computing, multimedia communications, and computer networking. Jerry is responsible for bringing the Laboratory INstrument Computer, known as LINC - along with its development team including Wesley A. Clark, Severo Ornstein, and Charles Molnar - to Washington University in 1964. LINC, which was developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in 1962, is a contender for the title of the first personal computer because it can be managed by a single individual. His passion for engineering, problem-solving, and technology and the ways it can support medical research resulted in many additional advancements in the medical field. In 1964 he founded the Biomedical Computer Laboratory (BCL) at Washington University. His pioneering work in radiation treatment planning paved the way for systems that are now in worldwide operation. His research team developed computer methods for reconstructing images from CT and PET scanners that aid in the diagnosis of cancers and cardiovascular disease. His innovations were instrumental in developing early monitors for heart rhythm disturbances. In 1974 he was the founding Chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Jerry led the school through its formative years and by the time he retired in 1991, the four-person faculty had grown to 24 and its members had been involved in such projects as medical database design and computational genome sequencing. In 1998, Jerry collaborated with colleagues Jonathan S. Turner and Guru Parulkar in founding Growth Networks which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2000. Growth Networks' innovative data-switching technology is the basis for the Cisco Carrier Routing System, a technology that dominated the field from 2004-2021. He was the Founder and President of Blendics, Inc and Q-Net Security Inc. - a company that provides hardware-based endpoint protection against cyber attacks in computer networks and industrial control systems. Upon moving to St Louis in 1955, Jerry and his wife Bobby settled in the Kirkwood area. Then, in 1963, they built a home in nearby Sunset Hills where they lived together for many decades. Jerry served on the Sunset Hills Board of Adjustment, including as chair, and on the police board. Bobby and Jerry were active in the community, including with the Kirkwood Theater Guild. They were also socially active with many neighbors and friends.

Jerry is survived by his three children Nancy (Craig) Battersby, Jerry (Margaret) Cox, and Randy (Patty) Cox, sister Anita Hunt, eight grandchildren Kim (Troy) Spenard, Erin (Chris) Rau, Sarah, Noah, Daniel, Michael, Adam, and Eleonor Cox, and four great-grandchildren Paige and Payton Spenard, Jackson and Scarlett Rau. Jerry is preceded in death by his wife Bobby Cox who passed away in 2006 and his siblings F. Randall Cox and Elrose (Candy) Myers-Owen. Jerry embodied his life motto 'Work Hard Be Kind' and recently released a memoir by the same name. The world is a better, kinder place because of him. He will be dearly missed by his family and all who knew him. There will be a celebration of life at Bopp Chapel (10610 Manchester Rd, Kirkwood) on February 18th and a reception at the Whittemore House at Washington University (6440 Forsyth Blvd. Clayton). Details to follow. In lieu of flowers, please donate to one of Jerry's favorite institutions: Central Institute for the Deaf (https://cid.edu/support-cid/donate/), the School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis (https://tinyurl.com/CoxFellowship please designate McKelvey Engineering - Jerome Cox Graduate Fellowship), or the Program in Audiology & Communication Sciences Scholarships at Washington University (https://giving.wustl.edu/giving-opportunities/).

01/22/2023 JFC