Caleb Southern

I just found out today that Caleb Southern died in July 2023. I never met him, but in the early 90s it seemed like every other album that came through our college radio station had his name on the production or engineering credits. Just to name a few bands he recorded (and these are only some of the ones from North Carolina): Polvo, Picasso Trigger, Bicycle Face, Southern Culture on the Skids, Superchunk, June, Flat Duo Jets, and Geezer Lake. (Caleb Southern | Discogs)

After that, he had a whole other career as a computer science professor at Georgia Tech:

Beloved Computing Lecturer Caleb Southern Dies  | College of Computing

To say that Professor Southern shaped my experience at Tech would be an understatement. He always insisted that students call him Caleb, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so given how professional, brilliant, and truly prolific he was as an educator. The loss of Professor Southern means the loss of a truly great mind, full of computing hacks and secrets many of us will never know. But the greater loss is that of a friend, and a genuinely kind soul. He is already missed by those of us lucky enough to have called him a mentor,” said teaching assistant and student Nikkolas Glover.  

Professor Southern loved what he taught and that was a passion he shared with his students. In every class, no matter the topic, whether it was data path circuits or the functionality of a doorknob design, he taught with joy. It was in his smile, the excitement in his voice, and his wild hand gestures,” said student Samantha Burger.

Southern completed his degree in mathematics and computer science with honors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a recipient of the prestigious Brooks scholarship.

His Ph.D. research focused on mobile-human-computer interaction, and he created the app Braille Touch, which allows visually impaired users to text.



Date
September 15, 2024