At the very end of his Illini experience, a special treat awaited Bob Bayne onstage during commencement ceremonies.
Or rather, a special someone.
“My lasting memory is graduation day, 1988, and receiving my diploma from Professor James W. Bayne” — or, as Bob Bayne called him, Dad.
“Dad arrived in Champaign-Urbana as an undergrad in 1942 as part of the Navy V12 program, joined the faculty in 1946 and never left UIUC,” says his son, now the Wisconsin president of the engineering firm Grumman/Butkus Associates.
“My first class in mechanical engineering was the last class he taught before retiring in 1985. He continued as an alumni liaison for the department until he passed away in 1996.”
