Early life and education Robert Roy Maxfield was born on September 30, 1941, in
Detroit, Michigan. He was the oldest of Mary and Jack Maxfield's three children. His father was surgeon, who joined the
Army Medical Corps during World War II. After the war, his family settled in
Wichita Falls, Texas, where he spent the remainder of his childhood. During high school, Maxfield developed an interest in computers. In the late 1950s, there was limited access to computers, and in his small hometown, there were none. Despite this, he turned his interest into a science project in which he built a rudimentary computer, a two-bit
adder, using aviation relays. He excelled in math and science in high school, and decided to study engineering in college. He graduated from
Wichita Falls High School in 1959. When selecting a university, Maxfield considered
MIT,
CalTech, and
Rice University. He was attracted to Rice for its strong science and engineering programs, tuition-free policy, and location in
Houston, which was a five- to six-hour drive from his home. He had also spent time in Houston during the summers, when he competed in
Junior Olympics swimming events. He was offered a swimming scholarship by the
University of Texas, but chose Rice, where he believed he would receive a better education. Rice's engineering program required students to complete both engineering and liberal arts courses, which led to a five-year undergraduate course of study for Maxfield. He appreciated how this integration of liberal arts made him a more well-rounded person. He earned both a
Bachelor of Arts and a
Bachelor of Science in
Electrical Engineering, completing his degrees in 1963 and 1964, respectively; graduating at the top of his class. Of his undergraduate experience at Rice, Maxfield said, "It's an excellent school for an engineer. But one of the characteristics was you work your butt off. I mean it was really hard and ... you learned to focus, to work hard, to ...manage your time," Maxfield knew he wanted to both go to graduate school and work with computers. He considered MIT and
Stanford University, which both had
co-op programs with
IBM, providing an opportunity to work and go to graduate school. He was offered a job with IBM in
San Jose, California. He moved to California, and continued his studies in electrical engineering, earning a
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (M.S.E.E.) in 1966. He completed his Ph.D. in 1969. His doctoral dissertation, with Professor
David G. Luenberger as thesis advisor, was titled "Techniques for Computing Optimal Controls for Linear Systems with Inequality Constraints." Nearing completion of his Ph.D., he realized he would rather work on practical applications instead of research. However, his job interviews and job offers for a new Ph.D. were for doing research. A conversation with Ken Oshman would set him on his career path for the next 15 years.
Marriage and family Maxfield and Melinda Harrison were married in 1964, soon after his graduation from Rice. The couple moved to California where he would be pursuing his graduate studies. They had two daughters in 1968 and 1971. Robert and Melinda divorced. Their youngest daughter died from leukemia in 1986, at age 14. Maxfield married Katherine "Kathie" Holman around 1980, who had been the Product Marketing Manager at ROLM. She would later write a book,
From Prune Shed to Silicon Valley Success - The Story of ROLM, documenting the history of ROLM.
Death and legacy Maxfield died on August 13, 2024, near his home in
Marble Falls, Texas, at the age of 82. The Maxfield Foundation continues to grants funds to individuals and institutions doing cancer research. Maxfield Hall at Rice University, the home of Department of Statistics, is named in honor of Robert and Katherine Maxfield, whose Maxfield Foundation donated funds for the renovation of the former "Mechanical Hall". ==Career==