Amherst, MA—Sandy Hill (born Francis S. Hill, Jr.), aged 79 years, passed away on July 24, 2020 of complications from a stroke suffered in 2000.

Born in Boston, MA, to Francis Sherburne Hill, Sr. and Evelyn Ames Royce Hill, Sandy earned electrical engineering degrees (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) from Yale University. In graduate school he began his teaching career as a Carnegie Teaching Fellow, as well as consulting for the RAND Corporation. After graduation he worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories in digital data transmission for three years before becoming a professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

For 32 years, Sandy taught, advised and inspired students at UMass. He was beloved as a dedicated, enthusiastic, generous teacher and colleague. During his time at UMass, Sandy became a pioneer in distance learning, teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in television studio classrooms for his on-campus students. These courses were recorded and delivered to industry by both videotape and satellite broadcast, allowing off-campus corporate engineers an opportunity to earn advanced degrees while continuing to work. Sandy also created and directed Engineering Computer Services and authored several textbooks including Computer Graphics, published in 1990. Innovative, energetic, charismatic, and fun, Sandy was also invited by corporations to teach week-long in-service computer courses. Always interested in new ideas and developments in programming languages, computer technology, and computer graphics, Sandy bridged a gap between computer engineering and computer science. Some of Sandy’s teaching awards include being selected as a Lilly Endowment Teaching Fellow and receiving the Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Engineering. He was elected as a Fellow of IEEE, Institute of Electrical Electronics and Engineers, where he was an editor of the IEEE Communications Magazine and of the column “Gentle Diversions.” Sandy’s love of travel and teaching led to years of teaching abroad—in Graz, Austria, at the Technische Universität Graz and as a Fulbright scholar in Bangalore, India, at the Indian Institute of Science.

In addition to a passion for mathematics, Sandy had a lifelong love of music and played both clarinet and piano. He played the clarinet in quartets, at local venues, and in the community and oompah bands. In spite of the left-arm paralysis caused by his stroke, Sandy continued to play piano with one hand, playing weekly duets with friend Linda Fisher Smith; together, they belonged to Piano Connections, a group of retired pianists who meet and perform monthly. Sandy’s daily piano practice gave him great pleasure until just days before his death.

Despite his stroke, Sandy remained vibrant, charming, gentle, and kind. His optimism and perseverance in the face of life-changing adversity allowed him to continue an active life full of social, cultural, and academic interests, and travel in the US and abroad. For two decades, Sandy’s personal care assistants helped to keep him strong and active and enriched his life with youthful companionship.

Sandy leaves his wife of 32 years, Merilee Carlson Hill; daughters, Jessie Hill of New Haven, CT, Rosy Hill (Garry Scott) of Burlington, VT, and Greta Neunder (Red Robinson) of Brooklyn, NY; grandchildren, Samantha and Jack Scott, and Lily and Ada Goren; and sisters, Evelyn Spalding and Wendy Merriman.

If you wish, donations may be made to Northampton Community Music Center (NCMC), 139 South Street, Northampton, MA 01060. Until it’s safe to get together, please remember Sandy by listening to Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet.