- Long-time COE professor Robert Thomas DeHoff died on Jan. 7 in Gainesville.
- DeHoff was a founding member of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.
- His textbook, “Thermodynamics in Materials Science,” has educated generations of engineers and continues to influence the field today.
Long-time, beloved University of Florida engineering professor Robert Thomas Dehoff, Ph.D., died on Jan. 7 in Gainesville.
A founding member of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, DeHoff played a key role in shaping the department and advancing the study of materials science. His teaching, research and textbook “Thermodynamics in Materials Science” educated generations of engineers and continues to influence the field today.
“Dr. Robert DeHoff helped shape the intellectual identity of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida,” said Michael Tonks, Ph.D., interim MSE chair. “His pioneering research and his books have had a large impact on the MSE community. We will remember him as a scholar of rare clarity and a colleague whose influence will continue to guide our department and the broader MSE community.”
Dehoff started at UF in 1959 and retired as a full-time professor in 2003. He earned his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University. He published around 80 scholarly publications over the course of his career and spent his professional career as a professor at UF.
He will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather and respected educator who valued family, learning and service, his obituary noted. His life and legacy will continue through the students and colleagues he influenced in his career.
He leaves behind his wife of 69 years, Marjorie DeHoff; his son, Robert T. DeHoff II; his daughter, Susan L. Newkumet and his grandchildren.