Dennis Healy, a math professor responsible for developing new technologies for the federal government, died Sept. 3 from a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 52.
Healy worked as a math professor at this university since 2000 and a project manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — a division of the Department of Defense.
While at DARPA, Healy helped oversee numerous projects including the invention of better MRI imaging software, a camera that could be mounted on robots and sent into danger zones and a camera so thin and flexible it could be carried around in one’s pocket, said Katherine Healy, his wife of 24 years. But most of all, students, friends and family will remember Healy for his love of teaching, passion for research and kind spirit, they said.
“Everything was interesting to him,” Katherine said. “He didn’t understand how anyone could ever be bored because he thought everything was so interesting, and that’s how he approached life. There was no boundary between his life and his work.”
Born in Los Angeles, Healy got his doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in math from the University of California at San Diego, finishing his studies in 1986. He went on to teach at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. for 10 years.
In 1996, the Healys moved to the Washington area to work for DARPA, and he continued his work with the government during his tenure at this university.
While Healy’s specialty was harmonic analysis, a type of applied mathematics that can be used for processing audio and images, but he was also well-versed in the fields of physics, engineering and chemistry. Math professor John Benedetto described him as a “polymath.”
“He had a tremendous scientific breadth,” said Benedetto, who was particularly proud of recruiting Healy to the university. “You got a sense he knew so, so much.”
Erin Boyle, a 2008 chemistry alumna, went to his office hours at least once a week while taking one of his upper-level classes last fall.
“He would try to put things in context of real processes,” Boyle said. “He always had graphics, would show the problem visually.”
Marybeth Shea, a long-time friend and lecturer in the English department, said simple communication was Healy’s strong point.
“Sometimes math people can be hard to communicate with because math is such a specialized language,” she said. “But Dennis was always able to say something to communicate to literate people who didnt get math.”
There will be a memorial mass for Healy today at 6:30 p.m. at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church at 7501 Adelphi Rd. in Hyattsville. Healy is survived by his wife and his sons Daniel, 21, and William, 16.
cwells@umdbk.com
