The banjo is frequently associated with country, folk, bluegrass and even classical music. Recently, I learned that it also has the power to endear one to new friends, bring together opposing camps and woo pretty young women.

As a professor, Bob Shannon had a wealth of prior industry experience to pull from when formulating real-world problems and, after chatting with Janet Fender, a 1981 Ph.D. graduate, it has become clear to me that he also had a sense of humor.

For anyone who was around OSC in the 1970s and 1980s the annual Saguaro Race is legendary. Supposedly, it all began in 1973 at a party when several OSCers, under the influence of a bit too much sangria, began talking about jogging and who was the fastest runner.