Dedication

In Memory of Frank Madrid

Professor Madrid was a Computer Science faculty member at Crafton Hills College.  In the short time that he had been with us, he was already a Faculty Department Chair, and was well respected. It is with overwhelming sadness I want to share a few words about Frank’s legacy and memories of the great human being that I miss dearly. For the past 2 years we have worked side by side at Crafton Hills College. I already missed his uplifting spirit, helpfulness, and our conversations that so many times brightened up my day on the days that he was not on campus to dedicate his genius mind to his doctoral research at UCR. Frank had so much passion for Computer Science and his students adored him for it. He was truly born to teach. Frank was able to draw vivid exciting pictures about dry concepts and was the king of relatable metaphors. We often sat in his office exchanging ideas for teaching methods, reaching students better, how we can make our tiny, new department more functional. “How to make things better” was really Frank’s specialty. He had a thousand solutions for every problem and I’m mourning the million solutions he would have contributed to this world, if he had been given more time in this life. What Frank had done for the Computer Science discipline, is beyond remarkable. I had a conversation with one of his students a few months ago and she was so in awe about Frank’s passionate teaching and the amazing program he developed. She told me that no other college in the area offered advanced topics like Crafton and that students are transferring in because of it. Frank would not have taken credit for this, he would humbly say he’s just trying to fill his predecessors’ shoes, who he respected very much. Work will never be the same without my friend being there. I miss him so much. My heart goes out to his wife Kaitlin, who he loved so much, his sister Liz and his family. You can view additional memories about Frank that we have been collecting from those who knew him at Crafton Hills College.

Iris Kern-Foster

Multimedia, Assistant Professor

Crafton Hills College