Saturday, January 18, 2020
I am very sad to learn of Dan's passing. Dan was one of the first people that I came to know when I moved to Morgantown in the mid 1970s. I moved to Morgantown as a graduate student. I had a research assistantship at WVU and my main task was running countless statistical jobs on the mainframe computer system. This was all very new and was very much a "learn on the job" process. Within days I found myself in over my head. Pondering a particular problem someone in my office said "You need to see Dan Chilko". I did and within minutes he explained what I needed to do. I did it. It solved my problem and I completed my task. It wasn't long, though before I encountered another task that exceeded my knowledge. So, I went to see Dan. Over the next few years you would have heard me (and many of my co-workers) often say "I need to see Chilko". I can't begin to count the number of times that I went to see Dan, but more than a hundred might not be an exaggeration. These little consultations were usually short, maybe five minutes, maybe a half-hour, but I always came away from them a little smarter and a little more competent than I was before I walked in.
I thought of Dan as one of the smartest people that I knew. Through our many shorts sessions I learned a tremendous amount from him, which, over the years I have taught to others. And, I suspect by now, those that I taught, have taught to still more.
I think Dan's legacy lives on through the knowledge that he shared with me and many, many others.