Bruce was born on May 26, 1940, in Leamington, Ontario, to Agnes Bruce and Richard Simpson. He was raised in Toronto and attended Humberside Collegiate. He graduated in 1962 with a BSc in math, physics and chemistry from the University of Toronto. He then completed an MASc in aeronautical engineering at Toronto in 1963 and a PhD in applied mathematics at the University of Maryland in 1966.
Bruce continued his academic career by pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at California Technical Institute from 1966 to 1968. He then became an Assistant Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York from 1968 to 1971. He returned to Canada in 1971 as an Assistant Professor in Waterloo’s Department of Applied Analysis and Computer Science, as it was then known. His research interests were in mesh generation and triangulation. Bruce retired from Waterloo officially on June 1, 2005, but continued as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Computer Science.
Bruce served as the Chair of Waterloo’s Department of Computer Science from 1984 to 1987, at which time he was on the Formative Committee for the Information Technology Research Centre. In the 1990s, Bruce served on the Graduate Appraisal Panel for the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies. He was honoured to be named a ‘Pioneer of Computing in Canada’ by IBM in 2005. Both as a Chair and as a senior faculty member, Bruce enjoyed welcoming new computer science faculty members, and he was a mentor, colleague and friend to many over his years.
Bruce maintained an active lifestyle. He enjoyed many sports including lacrosse, basketball, hockey, squash, skiing, and tennis. He continued to play tennis well into his time living with Parkinson’s. He greatly enjoyed music, both classical and popular styles, and played the piano. Family camping trips and travel were favourite recreational activities. Bruce embraced opportunities to live abroad during his sabbaticals in England and France. His career also provided opportunities for travel to a wide variety of international locations.
As the son of a United Church minister, he continued to enjoy the church community as an adult and was an engaged member of Knox Waterloo Presbyterian Church, where he was involved in the Men’s Group.
Bruce is pre-deceased by his mother, father and first wife, Gwen Simpson. He is survived by many loved ones including his wife, Janis, his children (Chris/Jim, Jackie/Matt, Rick/Roshni, Geoff/Jane), ten grandchildren, and his sister, Elizabeth. Bruce maintained loving relationships with extended family members and a multitude of lifelong friends.
A cremation has taken place and a small family funeral will be held. A time for all to join the family in a Celebration of Life will be announced.
Bruce’s family asks that those wishing to honour him consider donations to Knox Waterloo, the Alzheimer’s Society, Grand River Hospital, or the Parkinson’s Society.
Recollections from colleagues
Distinguished
Professor
Emeritus
Alan
George
Bruce
and
I
arrived
at
Waterloo
less
than
six
months
apart.
I
was
Waterloo’s
“April
Fool’s
joke”
with
an
appointment
date
of
April
1,
1971.
Bruce
arrived
on
the
conventional
appointment
date
of
July
1.
The intersection of our research interests was somewhat accidental. He was an expert in domain decomposition (algorithms to automatically subdivide domains according to specific parameters) and made pivotal contributions to that research area. My interest in that area was less central. My doctoral thesis was on computer implementation of the finite element method, and one of the subproblems in that task is to triangulate the domain of interest before applying the method. The bottom line: we had a shared interest and frequently swapped intelligence.
Bruce was a person anyone would treasure as a colleague. He was engaged, friendly and approachable, and never judgmental. He made new faculty members welcome and comfortable. Computer science at Waterloo is immensely better for having had him as a faculty member.
My sincere condolences to Bruce’s family. The ache that I feel will not go away soon.
University
Professor
J.
Ian
Munro
Bruce
joined
computer
science
at
Waterloo
in
1971,
the
year
about
nine
of
us
did,
increasing
the
complement
of
faculty
to
about
25.
At
31
years
of
age,
Bruce
was
the
senior
member
of
the
new
crew.
Three
of
us
—
Alan
George,
Bruce
and
I
—
had
the
rest
of
our
careers
in
what
became
the
Computer
Science
Department,
then
the
School
of
Computer
Science
at
Waterloo.
While Bruce’s research, particularly later in his career, focused mostly on mesh generation and triangulation, it covered much of numerical analysis to a point that he, at least once, referred to himself as an “itinerant numerical analyst.”
In the mid 1970s, Bruce and I coached an Atom hockey team. I have memories of us picking up and rearranging players on the bench, retying skates and driving kids around. A couple of years later we both had sabbaticals in England and managed to pass a used Datsun Cherry between us as we left and Bruce and his family arrived. It must have been a tight fit for five Simpsons, but for all that Cherry provided months of weekend exploration.
Later, around the time Janis came into the picture, Bruce and I were up to our ears in meetings of the Formative Committee for the Information Technology Research Centre. I recall not only (too) many a trip to Toronto and environs, but also the joy of working with Bruce and the rest of the team to establish (and fund) the Centre. Bruce continued to work selflessly throughout his career for the benefit of the Department and the University.
I greatly miss my good friend and colleague of almost half a century, and I extend my heartfelt condolences to Bruce’s family.
Distinguished
Professor
Emeritus
Peter
Forsyth
Bruce
and
I
were
colleagues
in
computer
science
at
Waterloo
for
many
years.
My
fondest
memory
of
Bruce
was
his
enthusiasm
for
organizing
social
functions,
usually
involving
graduate
students
and
faculty
members
in
scientific
computing.
Summer
picnics
at
local
conservation
areas
required
detailed
car-pooling
arrangements,
lists
of
food
and
drink,
and
rounding
up
of
graduate
students
on
the
day
in
question.
Even
when
faced
with
a
pile
of
exams
to
mark,
it
was
impossible
to
avoid
Bruce’s
insistence
on
participating
in
the
pre-Christmas
beer-drinking
session
at
a
local
pub.
Things
certainly
went
downhill
from
the
social
angle
after
Bruce
retired.
We
will
all
miss
him.
Professor
Gladimir
Baranoski
Bruce
was
a
very
honorable
man.
More
than
a
colleague,
I
considered
him
a
true
friend.
I
am
very
sad
for
his
passing,
but
glad
for
the
privilege
to
have
known
him.
During
my
first
years
in
Waterloo,
he
was
one
the
persons
who
helped
me
the
most
through
his
positive
attitude
and
encouragement.
I
will
always
be
very
grateful
for
that.
I wish to give my sincere condolences to his family. He left us, but his principles and examples of integrity and friendship will stay with us forever.
Professor
Daniel
M.
Berry
I
took
numerical
methods
from
Bruce
in
1968,
when
I
was
a
junior
at
Rensselaer
Polytechnic
Institute
(RPI)
and
Bruce
was
a
brand
new
assistant
professor.
I
loved
the
class
because
Bruce
was
a
good
teacher
and
he
gave
us
assignments
that
required
us
to
write
and
run
programs!
When
I
arrived
at
Waterloo
in
1998
as
a
new
prof,
he
approached
me
as
someone
out
of
his
past.
I
remembered
him
instantly.
I
was
surprised
that
Bruce
remembered
me,
just
one
of
the
many,
many
undergraduate
students
he
has
taught.
While
we
were
in
entirely
different
areas,
we
had
interesting
conversations
over
the
years
on
the
impact
of
computer
science
on
life
in
general.
I remember inviting Bruce and Janis to my house for dinner one evening. I made a mistake and gave him the wrong address. From a temporary fixation on RPI, I had given him the street address of my apartment in Troy, NY, where RPI is. Because I was busy cooking, I was not answering any e-mail. Fortunately, I was listed in the phone book and he found my address there, when he realized that there was no such street in Waterloo.
I will miss him. May his name be a blessing to all who remember him.
Wendy
Rush
Bruce
was
among
the
kindest
and
gentlest
souls
I’ve
known.
We
met
in
1981,
when
I
worked
in
the
Department
of
Pure
Mathematics,
some
years
before
joining
the
Department
of
Computer
Science.
At
the
time,
Bruce
served
as
the
Associate
Dean
of
Graduate
Studies
for
the
Faculty.
Although
he
was
always
busy,
he
never
missed
an
opportunity
to
be
helpful
to
staff.
I fondly recall one particular Computer Science Christmas dinner at South Campus Hall, a gala event that featured a live band. We ate our meals and talked for most of the evening, but just as the band began to play a number with a jitterbug beat, up sprang Bruce and his wife. All eyes were on them as they glided across the floor.
My deepest condolences to Bruce’s wife, Janis, and to his extended family. I will greatly miss his smile, slow laugh and kindness.
Robert
M.
Corless,
Emeritus
Distinguished
University
Professor,
Western
University;
Adjunct
Professor,
Cheriton
School
of
Computer
Science
Bruce
was
a
great
advisor.
He
was
also
a
co-author
on
my
first
paper,
in
1983.
I was the excuse to cross-appoint Bruce to Applied Math at Waterloo! I arrived, arrogant, in 1980, in CS to do a master’s. Bruce was my assigned advisor. (I never learned the mechanism: I thought then that advisors just happened.) I didn’t like the course requirements in CS: Digital Networks? Pfui. And I’d had a great course in complexity from JM Kennedy at UBC so I thought I didn’t need another. So, I walked over to Applied Math and asked if I could switch in. I had an NSERC. They said, of course, but let’s cross-appoint Bruce so he can still be your advisor. They added Gary Lastman so I had a co-adviser, but they were very happy to acknowledge Bruce and make that connection.
Over the next two years I had a number of adventures, but Bruce taught me a lot about patient working and careful checking. I met with him at irregular intervals (he let me set the pace) and he would gently question me. I remember once I had convinced him the approach we were taking wasn’t working (only linear convergence). Then I redid my Jacobian matrix using a then very new Maple and found my sign error. I still remember his explosive “hah!” and him then saying that I had actually convinced him that the approach wasn’t working. But with my mistake corrected, it worked perfectly.
Eight years after I graduated, a now-famous computational scientist did essentially this same work (quite a bit better, I have to admit) for his PhD. Bruce was ahead of his time.
Bruce also introduced me to some interesting computational work being done at Atomic Energy Canada Labs and flew me out to Winnipeg to give a talk. I gave the talk and had a good time, but declined further opportunities there. Winnipeg didn't work for me (ticks in the summer and dreadful cold in the winter, according to the tales, which I believed) so I wound up doing something different after I left Waterloo.
But many years later, Bruce told me that he was proud to have been my advisor. I am still warmed by that. He taught me a lot, especially about graduate supervision (but also mesh generation). I think that my students owe him some things as well, indirectly. I have tried to live up to his example.
I extend my deepest sympathies to Bruce’s family.