Robert Michael Panoff

Dr. Robert M. (Bob) Panoff died in Reston, Virginia, on September 22, 2025 at the age of 70.  The cause of death was congestive heart failure and multiple myeloma.

The son of Robert and Kathleen Beck Panoff, Bob was born in Washington DC on July 31, 1955, the second of six children.  He was raised in Annandale, Virginia, and went to Annandale High School, where he played the tuba. He went on to the University of Notre Dame, earning a B.S. in physics in 1977. While there, he helped establish lacrosse as a club sport—one that would later achieve varsity status.

Bob pursued graduate studies in theoretical physics at Washington University in St. Louis, receiving his M.A. in 1979 and his Ph.D. in 1985.  He conducted pre- and postdoctoral research in applied physics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (1982-86) before serving as an assistant professor at Kansas State University (1986-88) and Clemson University (1988-91). He later directed educational programs at the North Carolina Supercomputing Center at NC State (1991-93) and the National Supercomputing Center at the University of Illinois (1993-94), where he remained a longtime consultant.

In 1994 Dr. Panoff founded the Shodor Education Foundation in Durham, North Carolina, where he served as President and Executive Director for three decades.  Under his leadership, Shodor grew into a nationally recognized resource for advancing math and science education through computational science. With a staff of up to 18, the foundation provided apprenticeships, internships and other programs to more than 2,000 middle school, high school, and college students.  Shodor developed Project Interactive, a collection of over ninety widely used classroom activities, as well as the Computational Science Education Reference Desk (CSERD).   Its interactive models, simulations, and teaching tools reached a global audience of roughly nine million online visitors each month.

Dr. Panoff also established the National Computational Science Institute, which offered workshops and training programs for educators nationwide. Through this initiative, more than 7,000 college faculty and 4,000 high school teachers learned to integrate computational methods into their teaching. His work was supported by numerous National Science Foundation grants, and he served as a consultant to several national laboratories and as an advisor to the NSF’s Applications of Advanced Technology program.

Throughout his career, Dr. Panoff published extensively and received numerous honors and awards. In 2005, Wofford College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree in recognition of his pioneering contributions to computational science education. In 2022, he received the inaugural SIGHPC Educational Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computational Science Education. From 2016 to 2024, he served as scientist-in-residence and visiting professor at Wofford College while continuing to lead Shodor.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Bob will always be remembered as a brilliant and inspiring teacher and scientist, whose irrepressible sense of humor brought joy to those around him. A man of deep faith and tireless compassion, he gave of himself generously, always ready to serve others regardless of the cost. A gifted cruciverbalist, he solved the daily New York Times crossword puzzle with remarkable speed and unfailing consistency (he rarely missed a day).  In his leisure, he found quiet joy fishing the local ponds.

A Wake will be held at Reston Study Center on Friday, September 26th from 8 to 10 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at The Heights School on Saturday, September 27th at 12 p.m. There will be a Viewing before Mass in the chapel beginning at 11 a.m. Interment will take place Monday, September 29th at 9 a.m. at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland.

In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to contribute to Reston Study Center - restonstudycenter.org - 1810 Old Reston Ave., Reston, VA 20190.